Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 26 March 2019

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach

Central Bank of Ireland: Discussion

Mr. Ed Sibley:

I will supplement that. We have been discussing mortgage pricing for a number of years and I understand the degree of impatience around how that situation stands today, but if we compare the current mortgage market to where it was two or three years ago, large elements of the dysfunction have been addressed or reduced. There are still elements of dysfunction, but we are moving towards a mortgage market that is more risk based and risk sensitive. There is greater differentiation and we are seeing consumers taking advantage of that. The lowest rate on offer today is 2.3% for a two-year fixed mortgage and there is a variable rate of 2.75%. We are seeing that switching, which was at a trough of just hundreds and represented 1% or 2% of total transactions, now represents approximately 12% of total transactions. Work has been done to highlight to borrowers the ability to move products with their current providers. Lots of customers can save money by changing products with their current providers, and lots more can save more money by switching providers. That would improve discipline in the market and make it function better still. A great deal of work has been done. Clearly, the market is not functioning as optimally as one would like, but it has the right trajectory.

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