New mortgage lender to offer fixed rate below 2%
by Stephen McNeiceA mortgage price war is on the cards as a new lender enters the Irish market with low fixed and variable mortgage rates.
Currently, Irish mortgage rates are well above the EU average.
However, the new lender on the market - Avant Money, which is backed by Spanish bank Bankinter - is to offer fixed mortgage rates starting at 1.95% and variables at 2.5%, the lowest rates on the market.
Chris Paul, chief executive of Avant Money, spoke to Breakfast Business about the products the company is launching today.
He said: "Our view is that Irish consumers are under-served amongst Eurozone countries - only Latvia and Greece lenders charge more than Irish lenders at the moment.
"We want to bring some much needed change into the market, and today we're launching a rate of fixed rate mortgages with rates starting from 1.9%. That will be the first time I think there are rates below 2% in ten years in Ireland.
"We're building a sustainable business - clearly we need to make a profit at the end of the day.
"But we're able to do that offering the rates we're now making available - which begs the question, I guess: why aren't existing providers doing likewise?"
'We're talking about people's homes'
Mr Paul said his company has "always lent money prudently", and they need to do that with mortgages as well.
He said: "We're talking about people's homes here. The last thing we want to do is have to get into a discussion about repossessing somebody's property."
He also pledged they won't be 'cherry-picking' customers for the most favourable rates.
Each application will be looked at 'on its own merits', with Mr Paul saying that it would be 'too broad an approach' to rule out anybody receiving COVID-19 income supports.
Meanwhile, AIB has today announced a new range of fixed rate mortgages for new and existing customers.
The bank says their new loan-to-value (LTV) fixed 2.25% rate would save customers €41 on monthly repayments if they switch from their current 2.75% variable rate.