Parent’s continue to pay

Mortgages can be extremely overwhelming to any buyer, but especially those new to the market. Competition in the market is at extremely high levels, especially within the major Irish cities. This is due to rising house prices, little availability, and the intensity that comes with making an offer against other prepared competitors. In order to make an offer on any property, there are many hurdles that you must be able to jump through to even begin being an eligible purchaser. 

Loans have become much harder to get approval for as a first time buyer, especially if your credit history is not as detailed or robust as another person applying for the same type of loan. With high intensity competition beginning at stage one of getting a loan, many possible home buyers feel distressed from the get go. 

With Brexit on the horizon, banks have an iron hold on most of their funding; they are being extra selective about loan recipients in the hopes that they will have no issues in the repayment process.

Under the Central Bank rules, first time …

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Mortgage rates take Irish lendee cash

Ireland has been known to have one of the highest interest rates on mortgages out of all of the countries in the European Union. High interest rates are not uncommon, due to differentiation of financial records of possible lendees, but a high average rate surely is. According to a survey done by Goodbody stockbrokers, a mortgage rate in Ireland is 1.7 times more than the Eurozone average. 

Although this is extremely high, when you take out many of the benefits and cash back opportunities that the Irish banks provide the rate ends up lowering to around 1.25 times more. This rate is still high, leaving some people who have taken out a loan with significant extra costs as the years of their loan repayment diminish. 

A recent study by the Central Bank has proven this point, showing that a family who has a loan of €300,000 could pay up to €60,000 extra in a scenario where the loan lasted for 25 years. This is a very large sum of money, all of which is owed to the bank simply for …

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Central Bank warns of a financial stability threat due to cuckoo funds

Cuckoo funds or offshore venture funds in Ireland’s commercial property is causing apartments to be bought up by the big businesses that make up the cuckoo funds. The increasing dominance of offshore investment in Irish commercial property is causing risks that they will also import a boom bust cycle. According to research from the Central Bank, the threat is also that house prices will fall and the banks will be weakened.

Warnings have been definably seen as two of the biggest property investors in recent years look to sell a large portion of their office blocks. The Central Bank continues to explain that foreign financed funds are more vulnerable to negative shocks outside of Ireland. In other words, foreign investors are not as concerned with the Irish economy as they are concerned with the general economy and their investments. Foreign investors are not concerned with the health of the Irish economy and could potentially get rid of all Irish assets to pursue easy profits elsewhere.

Although there is high risk associated with cuckoo funds and foreign investors, these investments are …

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Irish economy projected to make gains

According to a report posted by Ernst & Young (EY), one of the Big Four accounting firms, the Irish economy is seemingly on the rise. This multinational company with HQ in London, England, United Kingdom has been investigating the health of the Irish economy.

Through their research, the company found insight that allowed them to project how the Irish GDP will grow within the current year. As of now, they have estimated that the economy is to grow by 4.1%. This number is consistent with that of the Central Banks, who projected growth of 4%.

These numbers are based solely on the first three months of 2019, and are bound to change with more and more information collection. As of now, their predictions are based largely on substantial corporate tax returns and the addition of new jobs into the market.

Although there are significant positive projections associated with these findings, there are many possible repercussions. One of the most prevalent issues would be the lack of resources available within the Irish economy, but especially around Dublin, to be …

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Central Bank seeks additional data

The Central Bank is keen on collecting data on its users, especially when they are looking to take out a larger loan in the future. The Central Credit Register, established in 2013, has been a beneficial tool for both parties in obtaining and storing financial information.

This tool is “a new secure system for collecting personal and credit information on loans of €500 or more” according to their website. All of the data that the bank uses to calculate your credit score is reported by people or institutions that are currently lending you funds on a monthly basis.

These reports are on a multitude of information, which include credit cards, overdrafts, different kinds of loans, and mortgages. This information is all pulled together to identify you as a possible consumer and give lenders a look at your reliability before making any offers. You can access this score in the form of a credit report by request.

As of 30 June, 2019 the Central Credit Register will begin to expand their requirements to include personal contract plans (PCP), hire …

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Late loan payments continue to rise

The Central Bank of Ireland reports that the total amount of mortgages that are now classified as long-term arrears have hit record highs, topping the charts at almost 6 billion euro. There are many types of properties that can and have become part of this number, but the largest group tends to be that of more residential properties.

In the previous quarter, mortgages in arrears were down significantly. Sadly, the largest category in mortgages in arrears, residential properties that are two years or above in late payments, is still increasing. The buy-to-let sector has been the largest subcategory of residential properties in arrears; 17.62% of the total is in arrears.

In April 2019, only 118 of all applications of mortgages for buy-to-let properties were approved while in April 2018 154 mortgages were approved. There was a 30% decrease within the same months separated by only one year, according to the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI).

This huge scale down may be due to Brexit, or perhaps the seeming unreliability of buy-to-let properties ability to bring in …

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Credit union caps

The change in the economic climate of Ireland in the last few months has caused many money lending institutions to change their policies. Credit unions are among the most common to change, with the current amount totaling 36 unions all across the state.

The largest adjustment to these businesses are focused around savings accounts of current members. People who are utilizing these saving tools are now being asked to keep their savings below a certain amount.

Some of the caps imposed on these deposit accounts range from €15,000 to €40,000, causing major problems for many of the current users. If an account is above the cap amount, the account owner is required to find an alternative place to store these additional funds in less than a month.

One of the largest draws towards credit unions for people is the ability to get higher interest rates on savings and lower interest rates on loans. High interest rates can be very beneficial on savings but without a significant amount of funds able to be held in an account you …

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How the Mortgage Market can Return to Normal Levels

Last week the Institute of Banking held a forum on behalf of the Irish Mortgage market in which Deputy Governor Ed Sibley delivered a speech addressing much of what is prevalent in the country today.

It began by briefing the current housing situation in Ireland. Simply put, it’s dreadful. As many are on the pursuit of suitable housing the “toxic legacies of the financial crisis” are proceeding to cause mayhem throughout the nation.

The forum started by discussing the role of the central bank. The central bank plays a much greater part in the overall mortgage market than one may think.

It is up to the central bank to ensure that “the economic and social good of mortgage provision is prudent, sustainable, and that the best interests of consumers are protected. “

The central bank has had to take extensive interventionist movements in the Irish mortgage market since the financial crisis as Ireland typically experiences extreme economic and human hardships when these certain risks arise.

In order for the mortgage market to function properly, consumers …

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Help-to-buy incentive under scrutiny

This past Sunday, current Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy said on RTE’s The Week in Politics that the Help-to-Buy initiative introduced by his predecessor is currently under review. Since its introduction in January under former Finance Minister Michael Noonan and former Housing Minister Simon Coveney, the Help-to-Buy initiative has already received nearly 7,000 applicants and has successfully helped a great percentage of them with the purchase or building of their first home. However, the initiative has recently come under fire for exacerbating the problems it intended to solve, and there is speculation that it may be dissolved.

 

The purpose of the Help-to-Buy incentive was to encourage first buyers to enter the market by helping applicants with their deposit through the refund of applicants’ income tax and DIRT other the past 4 years. It applies to first time buyers who either purchase or build new residential properties, and allows them to receive 5% of the purchase price of their new home, with an upward limit of €20,000. It is hoped that the incentive would help more people climb the property ladder, …

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Mortgage Market Update

The Financial Broker gives readers an overview on currently property prices and mortgage market conditions.

The Central Statistics Office published a report showing price inflation on property had increased 10.7% in the past year up to February. A similar report reveal how the number of newly build housing last year was 14,932 units when estimates denote a demand of up to 50,000 units. These numbers illustrate a problem in the current mortgage market, which this article pinpoints the causes of. The author laments about rising property prices, arguing that many potential home buyers have missed out on the prime time to purchase property, and are currently no long capable of affording the housing of their choice at an acceptable price.

The author attributes the current housing price and rent inflation in Ireland as consequences of a lack of supply in urban areas instead of lax macro-prudential regulations. In fact, she argues that current Central Bank regulations are too restrictive, and thus have prevented demanders from being able to locate and buy affordable housing. While the prudential regulations have lowered the …

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