April Mortgage Market Update

Symmetry Financial founder Mark Solon joined us this month to discuss how to get your first mortgage in Ireland, updates in the market and topics including green mortgages.

Property Market Update

Growth continues and unfortunately housing stock is still very low, with new build stock still worryingly low. The output is very far off the level that is required.

The rental market is still under significant pressure, with the average rent now at €1,524 a month and not enough rental properties available for those looking to rent.

The Mortgage Process

You can arrange a complimentary consultation with Symmetry here.

In terms of the above mortgage process:

Regarding Payslips; these are the most recent payslips i.e the February, March and April.

For the salary cert, you will need to give this to your employer to print, fill out, sign and return. These details need to match your payslip details.

An eStatement: you can download online. You may need to order an online one to make sure it's up to date. If you are applying to the bank which you bank with you won't need to print these off but that restricts you to that bank and that's not a wise move, get these statements and give yourself the chance to apply to a host of mortgage providers.

In terms of ID it's a high quality scan, for passport it's your picture page, for your driving license it is front and back.

Credit report - if you have ever had debt in the past or coming from outside Ireland, to ensure you haven't had any issues on the debt side this will be needed. Experian is a good bet to get a credit report for most countries outside of Ireland.

Delivering the info: Create a folder, zip it, password protect and send it over to Symmetry for the quickest process - or use dropbox or google drive for this.

Self Employed Documentation:

The only additional info you'll need for this is if you are self employed.

In terms of your financial records needed from your accountant as a self employed person, It's the full financial statement, not the abridged accounts.

Getting in all the right documents in the first instance will greatly accelerate your approval process, above Mark lists everything that's required for your first time application.

Those applying through Symmetry Financial will be taken through this all but either way if you are planning to apply in the next couple of months it is worth your while gathering all these necessary documents in the near future.

Mortgage Application process

Right now KBC and Finance Ireland are very quick, Avant are very slow with a huge backlog currently. They're a victim of their own success with a lot of people applying.

What role does the solicitor play?

In terms of the other areas you will need, you will require house insurance and it's important to shop around for this early on, Mark used the example of a client who was unable to get house insurance because of the house being in a flood risk area.

For investors you can borrow up to 70% of the value of the property e.g property for 300k you would need at least 90k deposit.

In terms of first or second time buyers, for exemptions and exceptions they are harder to get right now because with a lot of these they were given away at the start of the year.

Mortgage Rates

While not the cheapest in Europe by any stretch they are quite good value relative to the last 20 years or so in Ireland.

Interest rates aren't going to go lower from an ECB perspective but they may go higher but it's anyone's guess as to what rate and when this will happen.

Long term fixed rates

Finance Ireland and Avant are the only providers offering mortgages longer than 10 years.

KBC, while leaving the market, are still issuing new mortgages. Ulster bank is a different story.

With roll-off standard variable rates some people are moving onto very high rates of 4.5%.

Some people may have a five year fixed rate mortgage taken out in 2019 (as per Mark's example of a client) but without a breakage fee and they can switch and avail of a cheaper rate, and in the case of the example, a cheaper 20 year product.

Longer term options:

*portable means if you move house, you can take your mortgage with you.

Self Build Mortgage

They are a unique, a niche market. One challenge with these is the price of materials for the build which have risen exorbitantly. Reach out to Mark for these as they are quite a specialised area and he has done quite a lot of these.

If you'd like to watch the full recording of the webinar, follow this link.

To make an appointment with Mark and his colleagues book here.