Allied Irish Bank has announced an increase in its fixed home-loan rates of around three-quarters of a percentage point.
From the close of business on Monday, AIB's two-year fixed mortgages will cost 3.85 per cent, a rise of just under 0.75 per cent, and the five-year loan charge will be 4.75 per cent, up by 0.76 per cent. But the one-year rate will remain unchanged, at 2.75 per cent.
AIB said the move had been made because of a recent upward movement in wholesale interest rates.
Earlier this month, two other Irish home-loan banks, IIB and First Active, increased their fixed rates along similar lines, while the EBS building society put its up last month.
The developments follow a warning from the International Monetary Fund that Irish property prices could be over-valued, and survey figures yesterday indicating a three-year high in the growth rate of Irish house prices and a 15.6 per cent increase over the past 12 months.