Interest Rates and Mortgage Rate Increases in Ireland from 2011 - Permanent TSB and Others

[Sam Lord]

It is also devastating for families and individuals with mortgages as many people are already cutting back on essentials like food and heating to make their repayments.

That should not be happening. It is a scandal. What is the "left" doing on this .... still chasing Dail seats? Mortagers holders should be organised on a Can't pay Won't pay basis....

[Captain Con O'Sullivan]

Worth keeping an eye on the banks lobbying the ECB ... all the UK, German, Italian banks are pressurising the ECB to hike interest rates across Europe. I wonder whether that has anything to do with arranging for a lot of these banks to pass stress testing.... if you looked at some of the major European banks and refused to accept their word for what their derivative liabilities are they are effectively bankrupt.

Central European banks are allowed in their accounts to assign an arbitrary value to derivative contracts at 'Fair price' which is a load of pants. I can only assume that an interest rate rise or series of them at ECB level would again allow European banks to massage their balance sheets.

If the European authorities had any interest in acertaining the correct level of liquidity in European banks they'd have raided their records long before now.

The one thing you can be absolutely sure of is that European banks cannot be trusted to run their own balance sheets.

You saw what BOI did in releasing false information to the Dept of Finance and paid a 2million euro fine whch for them is a result. 2million as the price of being allowed to lie and then remain unaudited- in preparation for lying again elsewhere.

[morticia]

Apparently, the earthquake related blow to the financial markets collective solar plexus has not gone unnoticed in Frankfurt. Some ECB spokesman trotted out at lunchtime to say that due to quake damage, rate rises not quite such a cert any more...

http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0316/ecb-business.html

[PaddyJoe]

AIB pushed up their fixed rates yesterday:

The changes, which will affect new business for owner occupiers and buy to let borrowers, will come into effect from the close of business today.
The bank said its one-year fixed rate mortgages for owner occupiers would rise from 3.59 per cent to 4.15 per cent, while a similar mortgage for buy-to-let investors will rise to 5.15 per cent from 4.59 per cent.
Owner occupiers seeking a three-year fixed rate mortgage will now pay 4.88 per cent in interest instead of 3.89 per cent, while investors will be charged 5.88 per cent, almost 1 per cent higher.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...reaking29.html

[C. Flower]

That should not be happening. It is a scandal. What is the "left" doing on this .... still chasing Dail seats? Mortagers holders should be organised on a Can't pay Won't pay basis....

It's extraordinary what people are trying to deal with on their own, as individuals. They feel it's private stuff and for some people desperately embarrassing, when used to a good living standard, to have nothing.

The canvass for the General Election brought it out - one of the things that candidates remarked on over and over again was the number of people who came to the door in their overcoat, in an unheated house.

[morticia]

Nine news; Enda on threatening the banksters with legislation if they don't pass on Super Mario's rate cut to all on SVRs.

KBC, Permo-TSB and the ex- INW have agreed to pass on cuts already.

[ang]

Nine news; Enda on threatening the banksters with legislation if they don't pass on Super Mario's rate cut to all on SVRs.

KBC, Permo-TSB and the ex- INW have agreed to pass on cuts already.

Hope Enda is drawing up that legislation he is going to need it:-

National Irish Bank is to raise its mortgage interest rate by 1% on Friday.

The move comes despite a decision by the European Central Bank to reduce its key lending rate by 0.25%.

The bank's decision puts it in direct opposition to the Financial Regulator, Matthew Elderfield.

Mr Elderfield has confirmed he does not have the power to compel the bank to pass on the ECB rate cut.


Read more: http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakin...#ixzz1d7RAV6ke

[morticia]

Confirmed in Dail today that legislation not currently under consideration. NIB (Danske) not playing ball; Govt probably can't lean too hard on the foreign banks.

[PaddyJoe]

AIB have confirmed this afternoon that they won't pass on the latest 0.25% ECB cut.

[morticia]

AIB have confirmed this afternoon that they won't pass on the latest 0.25% ECB cut.

AIB did say that they hadn't raised the rate when the ECB went up by 0.25% the last time, so of the big three, they at least have half an excuse.

Now, let's hear it from the other two?

[PaddyJoe]

A sudden climbdown from AIB this evening and now they WILL pass on the rate reduction. No decision from BOI yet.
Maybe I'm just cynical but I smell a rat here on AIB. Given that the bank is 99% owned by the state I can't quite see how they could have gone into a meeting with Kenny, Noonan, Howlin and Rabbitte yesterday and refused to pass on the reduction.
Backing down the next day appears to be a political win for the government

[Baron von Biffo]

The saga of the interest rate reduction illustrates why we need quangos.

We've pumped billions of Euro into the banks and if we're ever to se any of that money back we need to ensure that they can operate commercially and profitably. If they are forced to make interest rate decisions to suit the short term interests of politicians there's no hope that will ever get to commercial viability and that will hurt us all.

If the banks were managed by a commercial body at a remove from the politicians we wouldn't have to deal with this sort of populist nonsense every time there was an ECB rate change.

[morticia]

Listening to Colm Murray while doing a very repetitive task at work this am.

Interesting story from a "Joe" from the Borderlands.... he'd been looking for a mortgage from various banks in the Republic for 1.5 years, and had been fed all sorts of manure about why this could not be granted, despite being in the same job 14 years and the other half in hers for 6. On one occasion, ye bank manager couldn't even give him a reason for refusal, just " come back in Feb".

Joe then decided to see about buying North of the border (he was renting within 3 miles of the aforementioned divide). A Northern branch of one of the same banks he'd been to see in the Republic gave him a loan within 6 weeks, to buy a property North of the border.

technical hitch for everyone else thinking of emulating this; the house to be bought has to be in the North.

Clear evidence the southern banks have been instructed not to lend anyone anything

the property market has a long way to sink, so!

Meanwhile, we have the ESRI instructed to tell everyone that first time buyers would be better off waiting 2 years as the market has another 2 years and 15 odd % + to sink.

I am beginning to think they're deliberately discouraging lenders. Problem is, it makes the negative equity issue pretty much all pervasive.

[C. Flower]

AIB mortgage rates going up, and branches being closed.

http://www.breakingnews.ie/business/...se-560831.html

AIB has announced it is raising its standard variable mortgage interest rate by 0.5%.

For owner-occupiers, the rate will now be 3.5%.

The news is contained in the bank's half year results which have just been released this morning.

In a further update on its cost cutting plans, the bank has also announced 45 sub office closures and six branch amalgamations will take place from October across the country, while there will also be a further 16 branch closures next year.

"This has been a traumatic announcement for many of these staff - who are facing the prospect of redundancy or relocation. It will also come as a major shock to customers in these areas - who have come to rely on the service from their local branch," said IBOA General Secretary Larry Broderick in response to the announcement.

Management says they incurred an operating loss of €1.1bn in the six months to the end of June, down 64% on the same period last year.

[PaddyJoe]

BOI to raise variable rates by 0.5% from the start of September.

One of the largest mortgage lenders during the boom, Bank of Ireland will now see its standard-variable rate jump to 4.3pc for existing mortgage holdersfrom October 5. This is around the average variable rate in the market.

Residential customers taking out a new mortgage from next Friday will face rates of up to 4.8pc at ICS

The move by both AIB and Bank of Ireland to hike their variable rates comes despite the ECB cutting rates twice this year. Another ECB rate cut could be delivered next month.

Around 250,000 homeowners have variable rates across all lenders. But 400,000 homeowners have trackers and have benefited from a series of ECB cuts.

This means the gap between the mortgage repayments for those on trackers and people on variables has widened to more than €320 a month.

http://www.independent.ie/business/p...c-3209821.html