Irish mortgage rates eased further in June, while deposit rates hit their highest level in over 15 years.
New data from the Central Bank of Ireland shows that the average interest rate on a new mortgage here dropped to 4.11%.
This was the third month in a row that rates have fallen and leaves mortgage rates here at their lowest in ten months.
The Eurozone average fell for the seventh month in a row to 3.75%.
Today’s data shows that rates varied hugely across the bloc from as low as 1.95% in Malta, to as high as 5.97% in Latvia.
Meanwhile, the average rate on a fixed-term deposit account in Ireland increased for the third month in a row to 2.75%.
This leaves deposit rates at their highest level since December 2008, though still below the Eurozone average of 3.03%.
Daragh Cassidy, Head of Communications at Bonkers.ie said Irish banking customers seem to have the best of both worlds at the moment – with falling mortgage rates and increasing deposit rates.
But he said this is unlikely to last much longer.
“Although mortgage rates will likely ease a bit more over the coming months, especially if the ECB cuts rates for a second time before the end of the year, which it might do as soon as September, this is likely to start putting downward pressure on deposit rates also,” he explained.
“Already N26, the German online-only bank, has slashed its savings rates by up to 1.1 percentage points. And it’s likely we’ll see reductions from other providers before the end of the year also,” he said.
Irish households currently have over €150 billion resting on deposit.
But the vast majority of the money is still in accounts that pay little to no interest.
Mr Cassidy said he would encourage anyone with savings to lock into higher rates while they’re still available.
