The Central Bank published the quarterly mortgage arrears figures today, here are the key findings (taken from their press release).
The number of mortgage accounts for principal dwelling houses (PDH) in arrears fell further in the third quarter of 2016; this marks the thirteenth consecutive quarter of decline. A total of 79,562 (11 per cent) of accounts were in arrears at end-Q3, a decline of 3.1 per cent relative to Q2 2016.
The number of accounts in arrears over 90 days at end-September was 56,350 (8 per cent of total), reflecting a quarter-on-quarter decline of 2.1 per cent. This represents the twelfth consecutive decline in the number of PDH accounts in arrears over 90 days.
The majority of maturity categories of arrears, including the over 720 days’ category, declined in Q3 2016. This category recorded a fifth consecutive decline, having declined for the first time in Q3 2015.
The number of PDH mortgage accounts that were classified as restructured at end-September was 121,140. Of these restructured accounts, 88 per cent were deemed to be meeting the terms of their current restructure arrangement, down slightly from previous quarter. The largest increases in restructures were again recorded in the categories of arrears capitalisation and permanent split mortgages.
Buy-to-let (BTL) mortgage accounts in arrears over 90 days decreased by 2.4 per cent during the third quarter of 2016. At end-September there were 14,518 BTL accounts in arrears over 720 days, with an outstanding balance of €4.3 billion, equivalent to 18 per cent of the total outstanding balance on all BTL mortgage accounts. There was an increase of 5.4 per cent in the number of BTL accounts where a rent receiver was appointed; this follows on from an increase of 1 per cent in the previous quarter.
Non-bank entities now hold 45,678 mortgage accounts for PDH and BTL combined. Of this number, almost 70 per cent are held by regulated retail credit firms, with the remainder held by unregulated loan owners. Some 38 per cent of PDH accounts held by unregulated loan owners are in arrears of over 720 days, compared to 19 per cent of accounts held by retail credit firms.