Banking

Irish homeowners to keep paying high interest rates even if repossessions rise

It was thought by some that allowing home to be repossessed more easily would bring interest rates down, but Finance’s Retail Banking Review states that the move would make little difference to the cost of loans

The largely successful efforts of the banks to clean up their balance sheets by offloading bad crisis-era loans is likely to have little effect in cutting mortgage interest rates, a banking review has found

Irish borrowers will continue to pay significantly higher interest rates than their European peers even if banks are allowed to repossess homes more easily, the state’s banking review has found.

The interest rate for new mortgages in Ireland has averaged just under 3 per cent for the past five years, compared to the euro area average of 1.55 per cent.

As a result, Irish mortgage holders pay considerably more each month to service their home ...