Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Thursday, 27 November 2014
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform
Mortgage Insurance Schemes: Discussion
2:25 pm
Mr. Karl Deeter:
One needs to increase the stress test. At present there is a Central Bank mandated stress test built into lending and that is part of the underwriting process. If one wants to make lending a little bit safer, one would not have to change the rules or bring in loan to value measures, became 90% is actually common. Even in places where they have insurance people are lending more than 90%. All it does is protect the banks. If one is looking for the best outcome for the individual and the institutions, they should take out insurance themselves. Let them insure their own activities, but if one increases the Central Bank mandated stress test that we already have from 2% to 3%, which is what the Hong Kong monetary authority did as well, one would de-risk the lending within the existing models, which are prudent good models. In terms of getting supply on board, unfortunately that is above our paygrade today. That is relative to housing supply and is a separate issue. In terms of macro prudential tools, there is nothing in that box that builds houses.
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