Mortgage rates ease to nine-month low

Irish mortgage rates eased downwards again in May, according to the latest figures from the Central Bank of Ireland.

The average interest rate on a new mortgage in Ireland is now 4.17 per cent, a drop of 0.07 percentage points compared to April. This comes on the back of a similar drop in April.

It leaves mortgage rates in Ireland at their lowest level in nine months.

Despite the fall, Irish homebuyers still face the joint sixth-highest rates in the euro zone.

The euro zone average remained broadly steady at 3.80 per cent. However, rates varied hugely across the currency bloc, from as low as 1.97 per cent in Malta to as high as 5.97 per cent in Latvia.

The European Central Bank (ECB) cut interest rates in early June and said more easing was likely this year.

Daragh Cassidy, from price comparison site bonkers.ie, said any further cuts by the ECB should put further downward pressure on mortgage rates.

“Yet regardless of how quickly or by how much rates continue to fall, the tens of thousands of mortgage holders on fixed rates which are due to come to an end over the next few months still need to be preparing for potentially higher repayments.

“Many mortgage holders who took out a fixed rate over the past three or four years may be enjoying rates as low as 2% or 3% at present. But they’ll still generally be faced with higher rollover rates of around 4% to 4.50% when they look to re-fix over the coming months.”