Obtain a loan of up to 4x your income

The European Central Bank set a ceiling in 2015, allowing borrowers to take out loans from lenders who wish to lend them up to 3.5x their income. However, the ECB recently declared that as a borrower, you may request 4x your income. The loan-value caps will remain the same as before the change, so first-time buyers will be able to borrow 90% of the property’s value, while second-time buyers will be able to borrow 80% of the property’s value.

One unique suggestion received by the ECB was that borrowers earning less than €60,000 be able to obtain a loan of up to 4.5x their income. After the rate crash, the mainstream banks removed development lending. Thus, smaller builders needed alternative finance providers to realize some projects because the extent of the limits was affecting them. Clients now have their own criteria for obtaining a mortgage due to domestic inflation (which was 8.6 percent in September), rising cost-of-living crises, and rising interest rates on loans.

ICS Mortgages, a non-bank lender, tightens its loan acceptance criteria. So, if you take a loan …

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AIB Mortgages

AIB advertised their mortgages extensively. Therefore, the first thing you notice when you visit their website is a section on mortgages. They have an appealing and good structured website where you can find a calculator, make an appointment, and learn some information about your situation. A video about a couple who obtains a mortgage from AIB is also available. In this video, the clients explain how that works. They claimed to be extremely glad to accept the mortgage from this bank because everyone there is polite and helpful. AIB has professionals that can explain everything to you about mortgages and your options. They also have an App that gives clients a good overview. Additionally, the fact that clients can upload their documents from home makes everything simpler for them. You may find a wealth of general and situation-specific information on mortgages on their website.

AIB has a community spotlight on their website where you can watch a video about the important work being done for the local community and the advancement of the transition to a sustainable living. They …

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Increasing rates across the continent

According to a recent poll, Ireland’s average mortgage rate is 2.64%. This is only 0.01% higher than it was the previous month, when it was 2.63%.

Irish rates have decreased as the economies of the rest of Europe have gotten more expensive. With the release of these new figures, Ireland actually dropped out of the top five most costly Eurozone nations for the first time in five years.

Ireland’s rate of 3.10 per cent, is higher than the average rate of 2.21 per cent in the Eurozone. Still, Ireland’s rate is lower than it was a year ago: 5.95 per cent this time last year.

The average interest rate on Irish fixed-rate mortgages is 2.49 percent and 3.77 percent on an Irish variable-rate mortgage.

Ireland now has the Eurozone’s eighth-highest mortgage rates, trailing only Germany and the Netherlands. Households in these countries, on the other hand, tend to take out much longer-term fixed rates than Irish households (up to 20 years or more), which typically have higher rates.

The average interest rate across the continent is increasing. Latvia has the …

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Negative interest rates are both gone and here at the same time.

Many commentators are talking about the end of negative interest rates in nominal terms and it’s true, interest rates are rising but in real terms they are still negative. Look at mortgage rates (for instance), you can borrow at 3% and below and meanwhile you have property price appreciation at 15% meaning that in real terms you are paying -12%.

If you can ever get something on a continuous basis at -12% that indicates ‘buy’, and that’s what people are doing, but notice that we mentioned ‘continuous’, the reality is that there is no arbitrage most of the time and this will be closed down by either rising costs, falling prices or some other outcome that we can’t forsee. Trees don’t grow to the sky, they never have and never will so the trajectory of house prices must rationalise but it’s hard to see how or where at present because the demand side seems so demonstrably strong.

I bumped into Kieran McQuinn on Pearse Street today and in our brief chat mentioned how the price changes are not sustainable, he …

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European property and mortgages: Frankfurt

Residential real estate is as popular as ever. Many people fulfill their dream of owning their own home with a one- or two-family house or a condominium. High demand is driving real estate prices to infinity. The problem of housing shortages is on the rise. Forecasting future prices is not that easy. Rents could rise even further due to excess demand. Many are therefore looking for alternatives. These include buying condominiums or single-family homes.

The average asking price for a condominium in Germany was €3,748 per square meter in the first half of 2021. This represents an increase of 15.1 percent compared with the first half of 2020. In previous years, the annual increase had still been around ten percent. One- and two-family houses and terraced houses were offered for an average of 350,000 euros, representing an increase of 12.9 percent.

However, this does not apply equally to all of Germany. There are significant regional differences. The best example here is eastern Germany, which is still considerably cheaper than western Germany. It doesn’t matter whether we’re talking about condominiums and …

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History of the Landesbank (Bavaria)

In Germany, Landesbanken are credit institutions that carry out banking transactions for individual federal states and support the state in promoting the economy.

The history of the legal predecessors of today’s Landesbanken often dates back to the 18th century. In their now familiar form, the banks emerged in the years after World War II, when the German states issued their first state bonds with the help of the Landesbanken. In the respective federal state for which they carry out banking transactions and act in an advisory capacity, they perform a kind of house bank function. In addition, the Landesbanken are authorized to conduct all banking transactions permitted under their statutes. In this respect, they have been operating on the market for years as general commercial or universal banks.

The business model of the Landesbanken has faced a dilemma since the abolition of institutional burden and guarantor liability in 2005; on the one hand, they conduct banking business for their federal state, but on the other hand, they are on a par with private banks and have to hold their own …

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The economy of Nuremberg

Nuremberg is the second-largest city in Bavaria after Munich. According to the population register in December 2021 530,222 people had a registered main residence in Nuremberg. Within the last two Corona years, Nuremberg’s population has thus declined by 1.1%. The main reason for this is the Corona pandemic. Since October 2021, the number of inhabitants has been increasing significantly again. According to the Nuremberg and Fürth Statistical Information System, about 32.000 people moved away from Nuremberg in the year 2021.

Nuremberg was ranked among the top 25 cities with the best quality of life worldwide in a study (Worldwide Quality of Living Survey) conducted by the consulting firm Mercer, and was ranked sixth among German cities in 2010.

The overall quality of living and satisfaction of the population is continually determined every three years in most German cities. The last survey took place in 2019 with over 1,000 participants. More than 80% of all attendees from Nuremberg were satisfied with the public areas such as markets, squares, and pedestrian zones in their city. The condition of roads and buildings as …

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Nuremburg property market

Nuremberg isn’t known as a significant real estate location even though it has been the economic and cultural centre of Northern Bavaria for years. But lower prices than in more prominent German cities, make buying property in Nuremberg a good investment.

The property market is growing steadily which can be seen in a renewed high level of real estate transaction volume in 2021. At EUR 1.39 billion, the sales volume was indeed about a tenth below the previous year’s figure, but it was still slightly above the average of the last five years. The top position was taken by the segment of institutional housing with a generated transaction volume of around EUR 525 million. The surpassing of last year’s figure by +6% is an indicator to a continuing interest in residential investments in Nuremberg.

The office segment showed a contradictory development in 2021 with only EUR 286 million or 61% less than the previous year due to a lack of opportunities.  Since there were no large-volume sales (above EUR 100 million) observed the highest office transaction amounted to almost EUR …

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Avant Money turned 1 year old, and in that time they changed everything.

Avant Money is part of the Bankinter group and they have been in the market for just one year and in that time they have been transformational in terms of what they have achieved in the current landscape.

To begin with they came in and offered the lowest rates we have ever had since the days of tracker mortgages, their fixed rates were also available for longer durations at these low rates than the other leading rates of the day. After that they brought out a suite of fixed rates which were also at the forefront of the market.

As a lender who distributes exclusively through brokers this is wonderful in our view as it drives people towards independent financial advice and greater selection. We can’t wait to see what Avant Money has coming down the line in year two!

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