Mortgages Uncovered

You probably won’t be all that comforted to learn that the Emerald Isle (that’s Ireland, not a place somewhere over a rainbow) has been hit as dramatically as everywhere else in terms of credit and mortgages. In April last, growth in residential mortgage lending rates was seen to have fallen to the lowest level in 16 years, according to Irelands Central Bank.

Although April has always been a poor month for mortgages lending due to its coinciding with the Easter Holidays, Easter fell earlier in March this year and so the figures should be taken as being particularly grim.

Residential mortgage lending saw to the lowest annual rate of growth seen since May 1992.

In terms of hard cash the figures seem astounding with €143.4 billion in outstanding residential mortgages. Outstanding debts on credit cards saw a year on year increase of 7.2% in April, although at least this was down from the 8.6% in March.

However, the Bank of Ireland is assuring the population that the housing market is going to start ‘balancing out’. In its quarterly Irish Property Review, the bank claimed that the average price of a house had fallen back in line with levels as they were in 2006 – around €281,600. The report also claims that Ireland will see a rise to 37% in terms of house affordability in 2008 as the average income rises by 4.9%.

But don’t break out the party hats and streamers just yet. The same report indicated that average rents had seen a 22% increase in the three years running up to March 2008.

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