RTE Drivetime – the IBF property market report, 28th May 2013

We were asked to speak to Mary Wilson about the IBF property report on RTE Drivetime. There was a view given earlier in the day that the month on month increase in applications was a positive thing, we chose to look at year on year figures which tell an entirely different story. And while lending is down 26%, drawdowns down over 18%, transactions are up over 14%.

To us this is indicative of a market where credit is not functioning in it’s natural role, price is not the issue, it’s scarcity which is the problem.

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Slowdown in pace of increase in arrears is welcome, says IBF

The Irish Banking Federation (IBF) and its members note from today’s Central Bank statistics on mortgage arrears that, as expected, the overall level of private residential mortgage arrears has increased – but significantly the pace of that increase is further slowing.

The increase to 11.3% in the total number of private residential mortgages in arrears comes as no surprise, reflecting as it does the difficult economic circumstances in which an increasing number of customers find themselves.  However, the slowing pace of increase in arrears is welcome, with the Central Bank noting that:

·there is an underlying decline in the number of accounts up to 90 days in arrears ·the pace of increase in arrears over 90 days has slowed; ·the number of accounts 91-180 days in arrears fell for the first time (-0.1%) ·the pace of increase in arrears over 180 days fell significantly.

It is also notable that the small decrease to 81,683 in the total number of restructured accounts is largely related to “a reclassification effect, resulting from the application of a more harmonised definition of restructures across …

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Property Crash, Where to Now? RTE 1

We were delighted to take part in the making of Richard Currans documentary ‘Property Crash, Where to Now?’. It is the follow up to 2006’s ‘Future Crash’ in which he predicted the demise of the Irish property market.

The full version is available on the RTE player, we just posted the clip that we took part in (showing off for our loved ones basically!)

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Synopsis of the ‘Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears’ February 2010

The Financial Regulator recently brought out a new code of conduct for mortgage arrears, the full length eight page document is here.

The code applies to: all of the regulated mortgage lenders in the state (this includes the sub-prime lenders), as well as all mortgage lenders operating here via other EU states (eg: Leeds Building Soc.)

It applies to consumers only, and only in respect of their principle private residence in the state. The code should be treated as an extension of the Consumer Protection Code.

Scope: The code covers finance for primary homes, lenders must adopt flexible procedures that aim to assist the borrower as far as possible. It sets out what the lenders must do in an arrears case but allows repossession where the code is not appropriate (fraud, breach of contract, abandonment). It doesn’t relieve the borrower from their duties to repay

Legal Background: S117 of the Central Bank Act 1989

Avoiding an arrears problem: Once …

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RTE Primetime features Irish Mortgage Brokers

Mark Little speaks to Aoife Walsh from Respond! and Karl Deeter of Irish Mortgage Brokers about the looming mortgage issues in the Irish property market, the commentary was on the recent IBF protocol (Irish Bankers Federation) whereby people working with their lender can get a further 6 month extension on dealing with their mortgage if they are in difficulty. While we broadly welcome the move we also believe that there are other motivations for it as well as some genuine questionable solutions.

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