Archive for category: News

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 18^th. 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

 

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

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

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!

Under the First Home Scheme (FHS), the Government, in partnership with participating lenders, has introduced a shared equity scheme to help buyers bridge the gap between their deposit and mortgage, and the price of their new home.

The FHS can fund up to 30% of the market value of a new property. This amount is reduced to 20% if the applicant(s) are availing of the Help to Buy Scheme (HTB).

The minimum equity share is 2.5% of the property purchase price, or €10,000, whichever is higher.

Under the “game-changer” First Home Scheme, a typical couple paying up to €2000 rent per month could expect to pay a mortgage of between €1100 and €1200, depending on the mortgage. Oates Breheny is a approved broker for all participating lenders. Find out more or Apply For a Quote