The number of residential mortgages in arrears declined for the ninth successive quarter in the period July to September, according to new figures published by the Central Bank.
A total or 92,291 accounts, equivalent to 12.3 per cent of all residential mortgages, were in arrears at the end of the third quarter, down 6 per cent versus the previous three months.
There were 65,584 owner-occupier mortgages in arrears for 90 days or more at the end of September, equivalent to 8.7 per cent of residential accounts. This marks a 6.7 per cent decline compared to the second quarter and it the eighth quarter in which there has been a reduction.
Overall, there were 749,778 residential mortgage accounts in Ireland in the third quarter, which collectively were valued at €102.5 billion.
The latest figures show early arrears continued to decline in the three months to the end of September. The number of accounts in arrears of less than 90 days, stood at 26, 707, equivalent to 3.6 per cent of all residential mortgages. This is 4.1 per cent lower than in the second quarter.
Meanwhile, the number of accounts in arrears for over 360 days fell to 50,404, down 14 per cent on the previous three months. Accounts in arrears for more than two years fell by 2 per cent, the first decline recorded in this category since the Central Bank began reporting on mortgage statistics.
Nonetheless, accounts in arrears for over 720 days still constitute 40.4 per cent of all residential mortgages in arrears, and 83.7 per cent of arrears outstanding.
Some 120,806 of mortgage accounts were classified as having been restructured by the end of the three months under review, reflecting a quarter-on-quarter increase of 1.9 per cent. Of these, 86.8 per cent were seen to be meeting the terms of their agreement.
During the third quarter, legal proceedings were issued by banks to enforce debt in 1,687 cases. Overall, there were 798 cases where court proceedings concluded but arrears remained outstanding. In 329 cases the courts granted an order for repossession or sale of the property.
There were 1,840 properties in the banks’ possession at the beginning of the quarter. A total of 422 properties were taken into possession by lenders during the three months under review, of which 207 were repossessed on foot of a court order. The remaining 215 were voluntarily surrendered or abandoned.
The figures show that during the third quarter, some 288 properties were disposed of.
Buy-to-let mortgages in arrears for 90 days or more fell by 4.5 per cent during the third quarter. At the end of September there were 15,275 such accounts in arrears for 720 days or more. These combined had an outstanding balance of €4.6 billion, equivalent to 17.4 per cent of the total outstanding balance on buy-to-let mortgages.
At the end of September, there were a total of 137,880 buy-to-let accounts held in the Republic, to a value of €26.5 billion. Some 30,288 accounts, or 22 per cent of all buy-to-let mortgages, were in arrears, compared to 31,524 at the end of June.
