Irish mortgage interest rates remain well below euro average

The average interest rate paid on Irish mortgages stood at 2.92 per cent at the end of the June, the latest Central Bank figures show.

The corresponding interest rate reported by all credit institutions resident in the euro area was 3.43 per cent.

The figures were published as part of the Central Bank’s retail interest rate statistics for June.

Traditionally, mortgage interest rates in Ireland have closely reflected the main ECB lending rate, primarily because of the high proportion of tracker mortgage

Tracker mortgages, which guarantee rates within a fixed band of ECB rates, dominated new mortgage issuances during the property boom.

However, the Central Bank said that over the 10-month period from July 2012 to April this year Irish mortgage rates “diverged somewhat” from ECB rates as lenders increasingly sought to pass on ECB rate cuts to their variable customers.

Over this period, the ECB’s main refinancing rate remained unchanged at 0.75 per cent, while the applicable Irish rate increased by 14 basis points.

In May, the ECB reduced its main lending rate by 0.25 percentage points to 0.5 per cent.

Following the cut, the Irish rate fell 0.08 percentage points while the euro area rate fell 0.06 percentage point, bringing these rates to 2.92 per cent and 3.43 per cent, the bank said.