Mortgage interest rates in Ireland fell to their lowest rate in over two years.
That’s according to new figures from the Central Bank, which found that the average rate for the month was s 3.66% on new mortgages.
This was down slightly on the April rate of 3.72%, and over half a percentage point lower than for May 2024 - when the average interest rate was 4.17%.
The May figure was the lowest rate since April 2023.
Despite this Irish mortgage rates are still significantly higher than the euro zone average of 3.32%. Irish rates are now the eighth highest of all countries that use the euro.
Latvia has the highest average mortgage rates at 4.29%, while Malta has the lowest at 1.8%.
The sustained fall reflects successive reductions in European Central Bank interest rates.
Since September 2023, the ECB has cut its main interest rate eight consecutive times, bringing it from 4% down to 2%.
According to the Central Bank, the total volume of new mortgage lending in May was €943m, which was a €39m - or 4.3% - increase on the previous month, and was €122m (15%) higher than May 2024.
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