Mortgage rates in the country went against this trend with a fall in April, but homeowners have been warned that the next move could rise.
Some numbers show that the average rate for new buyers and switchers dropped slightly to 2.77pc in April.
This is a slight decrease from 2.78pc in March.
The average interest rate on new fixed rate mortgage contracts, which make up the majority of all new contracts, was 2.59 pc in April.
It decreased by 4 basis points in April 2021 and decreased by 1 basis point in the previous month.
According to the Central Bank of Ireland, the country has the second highest mortgage rates in the euro area.
The average interest rate on new mortgages in Ireland is second only to Greece in the euro area of 19 countries.
Mortgage holders were also warned at a board meeting on Thursday that the European Central Bank is likely to suggest that it is overturning its decade-long policy and starting to raise key lending rates. ..
Approximately 450,000 homeowners are still using a combination of floating and tracker rates, which will rise as the ECB begins to raise key refinancing rates.
The ECB plans to announce on Thursday that asset purchases will end in June, indicating that deposit interest rate hikes are likely to be announced at a July meeting.
According to Conall MacCoille, an economist at Davy Stockbrokers, the ECB may raise refinancing rates in parallel with deposit rates.
Higher refinancing rates make trackers more expensive quickly.
According to Bonkers.ie’s Daragh Cassidy, the fact that floating rates here are very high and the overall new mortgage rates are almost double the European average is that if the ECB refinancing rates rise, Irish lenders May mean refraining from raising floating rates.
For every 0.25% increase in the ECB rate, the monthly repayment of a € 250,000 tracker mortgage will cost € 30 more.
As the ECB’s main refinancing rate rises, so will future fixed rates.
Some banking experts expect the ECB’s deposit and refinancing rates to double multiple next year.
The difference between the average new mortgage rates in this country and the eurozone average means that it is about € 1,900 to serve Irish mortgages than the eurozone average in 19 countries.
This is despite the fact that Ireland was one of two other countries with Malta that saw a decline in mortgage rates in April.
As the central bank figures show, average interest rates have risen in all other countries.
The eurozone average was 1.59pc, the highest level in almost three years, up from 1.46pc in March to 1.26% in April last year.
In contrast, Ireland’s average mortgage rate has fallen 0.3% compared to April last year.
News about mortgage rates has been mixed these days.
Permanent TSB, Bank of Ireland and EBS have all recently reduced some rates.
However, ICS Mortgages has increased rates twice in the past few weeks, and Avant Money has increased some of the rates last month.
Cassidy, head of communications at Bonkers.ie, said the ECB will only begin announcing rate hikes in a few weeks to counter the fact that inflation in the euro area was 8.1% in May. Said.
“But Ireland’s mortgage rates are far from the ECB’s base rate, so the ECB’s interest rates may rise slightly and not be passed on to consumers.”
Cassidy said the decision on floating rates depends on the competitive pressure felt by banks.
However, tracker customers are likely to see price increases almost immediately, he said.
Non-bank lenders, who rely almost entirely on the wholesale market for financing, will be most exposed to the pressure to raise interest rates, he added.
