Mortgage rates in Ireland are still the second highest in the Eurozone

Ireland’s mortgage rates remained the second highest in the eurozone, after Greece, in October, according to the latest statistics from the central bank.

The average mortgage rate for new loans here in October was 2.73%, down 0.06% compared to October 2020. This compares to the eurozone average of 1.28%.

The proportion of new fixed-rate mortgages, which constituted 83% of the total new loans, was 2.61%. The average variable rate for new mortgages was 3.28%.

The central bank said that the volume of new mortgages issued in October amounted to 785 million euros, up 5% from the same month in 2020, but fell by 2% in September.

Re-negotiated mortgages amounted to 354 million euros, up 40% from last year.

The central bank figures also show that new consumer lending reached 132 million euros, down 2 million euros from last year.

The average interest rate on these loans was 7.49% compared to the eurozone average of 5.24%.

Corporate loans grew by 1.519 billion euros, or 61%, in October. This is concentrated among the large companies that borrow amounts of more than one million euros.

This part of the market saw 1.269 billion euros in loans, an 87% increase over last year. The average interest rates on these loans were 3% compared to the eurozone average of 1.17%.

However, small loans of less than 250 thousand euros, which generally go to small businesses, fell by 14%, or 23 million euros, to 137 million euros. The central bank indicated that the interest rate on these loans is 4.75% compared to the eruo region average of 1.92%.