New Mortgage Lender – Nua Money

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A new lender has entered the Irish mortgage market! Nua Money, has secured a licence from the Central Bank is now providing an enhanced digital mortgage experience for consumers. Nua will focus on the owner-occupier market.

Nua boast a state-of-the-art digital mortgage platform that enhances customer service, guarantees transparency, and boosts operational efficiency. They are looking to transform the market by offering an easy and efficient process to mortgage approval. Their vision is to provide mortgage processes that are not only easier but also more accessible with a seamless experience that aligns with the needs of modern homeowners.

More information is available www.nuamoney.com

With interest rates now starting from 3.45%, talk to us to find out more on 071 9194194 or email mortgages@obg.ie

ECB cuts interest rates by 0.2% after Ten increases since 2022

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The European Central Bank has delivered a boost to mortgage holders with a cut in its key interest rate by 0.25 percentage points to 4.25pc. This welcome news was widely anticipated and there may be many further reductions in the coming months.

The current reduction, which will see rates falling from a 22-year high and will be a big boost to tracker mortgage holders. There are 180,000 customers with ­tracker mortgages who will see €13 shaved off their monthly repayments from next month as a result of the ECB reduction, meaning a saving of €156 a year based on a homeowner couple with 15 years left to pay and €100,000 outstanding. Tracker holders are also in line for another 0.35 percentage points reduction in September when the ECB makes a technical adjustment to its rates.

Variable and fixed rates may not come down immediately because recent cuts in fixed and variables by AIB, Haven, EBS, Bank of Ireland, PTSB and Avant Money had already factored in today’s rate reduction. Some lenders will also argue that they did not pass on all the ECB rate rises when pricing new fixed rates and on variable rates.

There are two further 0.25 point cuts anticipated at the ECB’s September and December meetings later this year but this is dependent on inflation coming down to the ECB’s target of 2pc.

To discuss your mortgage with us, call 071 9194194 or email mortgages@obg.ie

Avant Money Cuts Interest Rates while its Parent ‘Bankinter’ is set enter the Irish market

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Avant Money is the latest mortgage lender to announce plans to cut its mortgage interest rates, while it will introduce a further new incentive to support people who wish to move their mortgage to them.

The cuts see their four year fixed rate mortgage decrease to 3.6% for loan-to-values up to 80% and to 3.8% for loan-to-values of more than 80%. All other fixed rates will decrease to between 3.7% and 3.95% depending on the fixed rate term and loan-to-value with the new rates set to take effect from Friday May 3rd.

Avant Money have also announced a new mortgage switching incentive which offers 1% of the mortgage amount in cash – for example €4,000 on a €400,000 mortgage. Avant said there is no immediate change for its existing mortgage customers while any customers who have applied but not yet drawn down their mortgage will automatically get the benefit of the lower rates if they draw down from May 3rd.

The mortgage rate news was followed by the announcement that Spanish lender Bankinter intends to use its subsidiary Avant Money as an Irish banking branch.

It’s a good time for mortgage holders, with AIB(Haven) just after increasing the cash incentive for switchers by 50% from €2,000 to €3,000 while they have also cut their “green” mortgage rates for homes with a Building Energy Rating (BER) of B3 or better. Bank of Ireland recently introduced a range of discounts on its fixed rates for those with BER of any kind and Permanent TSB in March announced reductions in its four year fixed rate mortgage product.

With interest rates now starting from 3.45%, talk to us to find out more on 071 9194194 or email mortgages@obg.ie

New Bank of Ireland green mortgage offers varying discounts for all BER levels

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Bank of Ireland has announced that its fixed-rate green mortgage range will now offer customers discounts for homes with energy-efficiency ratings from A right down to G.

This new EcoSaver mortgage will replace the bank’s current green mortgage offering and is effective from April 18th. The move comes amid some criticism that under their green mortgage, many banks are increasingly only offering discounted rates to those whose homes have the highest BERs.

Customers with a home carrying a Building Energy Rating (BER) of A would qualify for a 0.35 percentage point discount against the prevailing fixed-rate price for their loan product. The discount narrows to 0.3 points for B-rated homes, right down to 0.05 points for G-rated properties.

The prevailing five-year fixed rates for owner-occupied properties with a loan of less than 80 per cent of a building’s value are, for example, 4.15 per cent for exiting customers and 4.75 per cent for new mortgage applicants.

Bank of Ireland aims to grow so-called sustainability-related lending on its balance sheet to €30 billion by the end of the decade, from €8 billion in 2022.

“Savings made through EcoSaver rates will contribute to the cost of retrofitting a home, so our customers can save money and improve their homes,” said Aine McCleary, chief customer officer with Bank of Ireland.

For further information on this , call us on 071 9194194 or email mortgages@obg.ie

 

Total of €14,109.80 raised for Sligo Cancer Support Centre

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The Sligo Christmas Splash Committee were delighted once again to be able to hold their annual fundraiser at Rosses point on Christmas Day 2023. There was a fantastic turn out for the event with huge numbers embracing the cold and making a splash for a great cause. A fantastic total of €14, 109.80 was raised for Sligo Cancer Support Centre from the event. Sligo Cancer Support Centre is a place of peace and hope where people with cancer and their families can access support, counselling, holistic therapies and healing workshops in a caring and tranquil environment in the North West of Ireland

The committee would like to acknowledge the generous support of all those who donated and attended the event. The committee are looking forward to Christmas Splash 2024 already!

First Time Buyer Mortgage Approvals hit Record High

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Mortgage approvals for first-time buyers have hit a record annualised high in February according to figures from the Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland (BPFI). The information shows that in the year to the end of last month, first time buyers were given approval for mortgages worth a total of almost €9 billion. This represents almost 60% of total mortgages approved in the period. Overall, there is a 6% increase in total approvals on February 2023 and a gain of almost 10% versus the previous month, January 2024.
“Our latest report shows that the mortgage market regained positive momentum in February with 6% year-on-year growth in mortgage approval volumes and 7% year-on-year growth in approval values,” said Brian Hayes, chief executive of BPFI.
“First-time buyers continued to drive the market, with 2,171 FTB mortgages approved in February valued at €640m, a jump of 14.7% and 19.8% year on year in volume and value terms and the highest February levels since the data series began in 2011,” he said.
Shane Breheny of Oates Breheny Group commented “the trend isn’t surprising as we see a lot of activity in this area currently. We have had an extremely busy start to the year with mortgage approvals, especially first-time buyers. We are finding that as a broker we are always able to build a suitable mortgage plan to gain prompt approval for our clients.”
The report also shows that re-mortgaging or switching activity rose by 0.5% in volume terms year-on-year and fell by 10.7% in value in the same period.
To discuss your mortgage situation or application, contact us on 071 9194194 or email us at mortgages@obg.ie

Tracker mortgage holders interest rates to drop by .35%!

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Irish tracker mortgage holders are set to get a bonus reduction of 0.35 of a percentage point in the interest rate on their loans this autumn, due to a rethink by the European Central Bank (ECB) rates.

Tracker mortgage rates are priced off an ECB interest rate, the refinancing rate, which has recently been half a point higher and now stands at 4.5 per cent. This means that currently, the interest rates on tracker loans are typically in the 5.6 per cent to 6 per cent range. There are 180,000 tracker mortgage holders in Ireland.

Last week. the ECB has announced that it will cut refinancing rate from 0.5 of a percentage point now to 0.15 of a point “as of September 2024″. This means a repayment reduction for most tracker holders as contract terms generally say that their borrowing rates vary automatically with the refinancing rate. The first reduction in ECB rates is expected in the months ahead, probably in June. The reduction of the ECB rates promises to be followed by an additional reduction for these mortgage holders in the autumn.

On its own, the reduction in repayments is likely to be in the €15 to 20 a month range on a €100,000 loan, due to the 0.35 of a point fall. However, the total fall in repayments will be well ahead of this as speculation grows that the ECB will cut rates, perhaps three or four times, later this year. Tracker rates could be one percentage point lower this winter than they are now, a saving of around €60 a month on a typical tracker with €100,000 left on their mortgage and with the addition of the “bonus” cut gains could even be ahead of this.

For more information and how you can avail of the best interest rates on the market, call us on 071 9194194 or email mortgages@obg.ie

Finance Ireland Reduce Mortgage Interest Rates

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Oates Breheny Group is an approved broker for all lenders in the Irish mortgage market and is pleased to report that Finance Ireland has reduced interest rates for three and five-year fixed rate mortgages in a response to lower market funding rates in recent weeks.

The move sees all three and five year fixed rate mortgage products cut by 0.45%. The new lower rates will apply to drawdowns taking place on or after Thursday 22nd February.

This development will bring rates down to 5.55% on a five year fixed loan with a loan to value ratio of 60% or less, while the lowest three year fixed mortgage rate will be 5.75% for a 60% or less LTV.

Finance Ireland is also launching a new 7-year fixed rate product from February 22nd, with rates starting at 5.35% for customers with a Loan to Value (LTV) of less than 60%.

Non-bank lenders, like Finance Ireland, are more exposed to the effects of rising rates on wholesale and bond markets as they source all their funding from there because they don’t have deposits to lend out, unlike the main banks.

Talk to us to find out more on 071 9194194 or email mortgages@obg.ie

Mortgage Interest Relief Scheme

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The Mortgage Interest Tax Credit (MITC) was announced in Budget 2024. Customers can claim a tax credit on the increase in mortgage interest they paid in 2023 over the mortgage interest they paid in 2022.

This was introduced to support customers who have been impacted by mortgage rate increases since July 2022.

The tax relief, subject to a cap of €1,250, is available to taxpayers with mortgage balances of between €80,000 and €500,000 as of 31 December 2022. The credit is only available for the 2023 tax year.

To claim the credit, the following documents are required to be uploaded through Revenue’s online services (Revenue.ie):

  • Certificate of Mortgage Interest 2022
  • Certificate of Mortgage Interest 2023
  • Confirmation of qualifying loan balance at 31 December 2022.

Some customers may to need request a copy of their 2022 Mortgage Statement. This can be requested by the customer contacting  your Lenders  Customer Service Team .

For all other information relating to the Mortgage Interest Tax Credit, please visit Mortgage Interest Tax Credit on Revenue.ie.

Oates Breheny Group selected as an exclusive broker for MoCo Mortgages

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MoCo, which is owned by Austrian bank Bawag, will add some much-needed competition in the Irish home-loans market. The new lender’s deals are only available through mortgage brokers and are available for homebuyers across the country. MoCo’s minimum mortgage level is €125,000.  Oates Breheny Group is delighted to announce that we are one of a select list of brokers approved by this new lender.

MoCo has launched its first home loans in the Irish market, including a five-year fixed rate starting from 4.5pc, which is lower than the same rate from the main banks. The interest rates offered on shorter term fixed deals are similar to prevailing market rates, with €1,500 cashback on all products.

MoCo is highly digitally focused lender – including client onboarding and utilisation of Open Banking to remove the requirement for paper statements from applicants. That should allow for fast decisions on mortgage applications.

Call us on 071 9194194 or email mortgages@obg.ie to find out more!