6 days ago
Mortgage debt grew by over €20bn in last four years
Irish households held debt to the tune of nearly €156bn as of the end of 2024 of which three-quarters was mortgage debt, new data from the Central Bank of Ireland shows.
According to the data, there is a steady increase in home loan liabilities over recent years, from €85bn as of the end of 2020 to €106.7bn up to the end of 2024. Of the outstanding debt, 75% was for home loans - a figure which has remained steady in recent years.
Banks accounted for €83.4bn worth of these mortgages while other financial institutions (OFIs) accounted for €22.5bn. There was a further €10.8bn in mortgage debt on buy-to-let properties.
The share of buy-to-let debt within total household mortgage loans has decreased from 14% to 9% since the end of 2020. While the OFIs share of buy-to-let loans increased from 57% to 76%, this includes some bank loans being transferred to other institutions as well as new lending from OFIs.
The remaining €38.3bn was categorised as 'other loans' to households which can include home improvement loans, personal loans or car loans.
The value of outstanding 'other loans' by Irish households has increased 31% from the end of 2020 when the value stood at €29.2bn.
The Irish domestic banks are the largest lenders to Irish households and hold €103.8bn in outstanding loans.
The European Central Bank is due to meet again over two days this month, on July 23 and July 24, in order to discuss whether interest rates need to be cut further.
However, it is expected to hold rates steady following these meetings as inflation returns to target.
In early June, it cut rates for the eighth time in just over a year as it seeks to prop up the eurozone economy in the face of growing international trade tensions.
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