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Mortgage rates in Ireland are still one of the highest in Europe

The volume of new mortgage agreements amounted to €598 million in April 2019.

FIGURES RELEASED BY the Central Bank have indicated that Ireland’s mortgage rates are among the highest in Europe, which stood at around 3% in April this year.

The volume of new mortgage agreements amounted to €598 million in April 2019, bringing new agreements to €2.3 billion over the opening four months of 2019, an increase of 11% on the same four months the previous year.

This means that mortgage-holders are paying almost €2,000 more a year compared with the rest of Europe. Of the countries that were examined, Greece’s rates were the only rates higher than Ireland.

The weighted average interest rate on all new mortgages agreed in Ireland stood at 3.03% in April, up 3 basis points on the previous month. The average rate for the euro area stood at 1.70%, although the rate varied considerably across countries.

Graph CentralBank CentralBank

Fixed rate mortgages (which includes mortgage renegotiations) accounted for 72% of all new agreements in three months to April, compared with 81% of new agreements over
the same period in the euro area.

The weighted average interest rate on new variable rate agreements stood at 3.32%, averaging 3.26% over the previous twelve months.

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Author
Gráinne Ní Aodha
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