Avant Money (formerly known as Avantcard) launched today and confirmed its new mortgage products are now available to Irish customers, with fixed rate mortgages starting from 1.95%, by far the lowest rate in the market today.

The company has been providing credit cards and personal loans to Irish consumers for over twenty years. Avant Money is owned by Spanish banking group Bankinter, which also has operations in Portugal and Luxembourg.

We, at MyMortgages.ie, are proud to announce that we are one of Avant Money’s partners and we are here to guide and advise switchers, movers and first-time buyers on the range of these new products.

Joey Sheahan, Head of Credit, MyMortgages.ie and author of The Mortgage Coach says:

“Avant Money’s entry into the Irish market is the best news for Irish mortgage holders. We have long seen European rates well below 2% compared to closer to 3% for Irish mortgage holders, and now, for the first time since before 2008, rates below 2% are available to homeowners in Ireland. It’s a once in a decade or maybe even 2 decade opportunity where a new lender enters the Irish market and reduces interest rates to this extent. We are delighted to be one of Avant Money’s partners and our advice to mortgage holders is now is the time to review their current mortgage, even if they have done so recently. A mortgage holder with €300,000 outstanding with 32 years remaining and Loan to Value of below 60% can save €158 monthly or €60,000 over the term of mortgage based on reducing interest rate from 2.95% to 1.95%”.

Your personal finance questions – We earn €97,000 plus a bonus and have a €60,000 deposit. Can we afford to buy a house?

Q I am a teacher with a salary of €47,000. My husband, who works in tech in the private sector, earns €50,000 a year and can earn an annual bonus of up to 20pc of his salary, but it’s not guaranteed. Even though we are paying rent, we manage to save €2,000 per month and have saved a deposit of €60,000. We have a car loan that costs €400 per month. We clear our credit cards and overdrafts monthly. We spotted a house in Crumlin for €435,000. Can we borrow enough?

A Joey Sheahan, head of credit at MyMortgages.ie and author of The Mortgage Coach, says you could easily carry the €400 monthly loan repayment. If you are currently renting and can afford to buy now, then it’s probably a good time because rents are so high and your mortgage repayments will, most likely, be lower than the rental payments.

Source: https://www.independent.ie/business/personal-finance/your-personal-finance-questions-we-earn-97000-plus-a-bonus-and-have-a-60000-deposit-can-we-afford-to-buy-a-house-41071189.html

The average price paid for a home in Ireland rose to €310,641 in the year to July, the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show.

Residential property prices increased by 8.6% nationally over the previous 12 months, compared to growth of 0.7% in the 12 months prior to last July and up from 6.9% in June.

In Dublin, house prices rose 8.1% year-on-year to a mean average of €479,454, rising to €649,916 in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, with prices up 9.1% outside the capital, most expensive in Wicklow €412,396.

‘In the period before COVID-19, the annual growth in residential property prices fell gradually from 13.4% in April 2018 to 0.9% in March 2020,’ CSO statistician Viacheslav Voronovich said.

‘While price growth remained subdued throughout most of 2020, a trend of accelerating growth emerged in the latter part of the year and into 2021.’

House prices nationally are still 10.7% lower than their 2007 peak, with the Dublin market 16.5% off highs posted in February 2007 and the rest of Ireland 13.1% below the May 2007 record.

Since early 2013, house prices nationally have nearly doubled (+99%), rising 106.8% in Dublin from their February 2012 low and 100% in the rest of Ireland since May 2013.

The volume of property transaction in July rose 49.2% year-on-year and 10% month-on-month, with 3,822 purchases filed with the Revenue in July compared to 2,561 the same month last year and 3,473 in June.

The total value of transaction finalised in July was €1.3 billion, with existing dwellings (3,221) accounting for 84.3% of purchases and new homes (601) representing just 15.7%.

First-time buyers made up just under a third (32.3%) of purchasers in July, and MyMortgages.ie head of credit Joey Sheahan said ‘their share of the market will continue to grow’ if the Help-to-Buy Scheme is extended in next month’s Budget.

He added that rising transaction numbers were ‘hopefully’ a sign of greater construction output.

Brokers Ireland director of financial services Rachel McGovern said that double digit growth in some area was ‘unhealthy for potential buyers and the economy at large’.

‘With the exception of the release valve presented by new blended working arrangements that would appear to have increased the appeal of areas like the South-East and the Midlands, which are seeing an 11% increase in prices, home ownership in the most populous areas of Dublin and its environs has largely become the preserve of those on higher incomes or those with strong financial support from family,’ she said.

Source: https://www.msn.com/en-ie/money/other/average-house-price-exceeds-310-000-as-home-prices-have-doubled-since-2013/ar-AAOthnI

Are you unable to Secure Mortgage Approval Due To Rising Prices in Dublin?

A joint income of almost €100,000 is now needed just to buy the cheapest new apartment in the greater Dublin area.

MyMortgages has exemptions available on a case-by-case basis and are currently securing approval for many people in your situation.

What the media are saying….

Income of €100,000 needed for cheapest Dublin apartments

A joint income of almost €100,000 is now needed just to buy the cheapest new apartment in the greater Dublin area.

This is because it is not financially viable for developers to build apartments to sell to ordinary people.

They can only be built to sell if the apartments are constructed in more expensive areas where higher sales prices are achievable, a new report found.

Read more on this article in The Independent here.

“It’s a once in a decade or maybe even 2 decade opportunity where a new lender enters the Irish market and reduces interest rates to this extent”

By Megan Martin, RSVP

In response to the newcomer, AIB announced today that they were introducing a new Loan-to-Value (LTV) fixed rate for mortgages with a fixed rate as low as 2.25%.

“Avant Money’s entry into the Irish market is the best news for Irish mortgage holders. We have long seen European rates well below 2% compared to closer to 3% for Irish mortgage holders, and now, for the first time since before 2008, rates below 2% are available to homeowners in Ireland,” said Joey Sheahan, Head of Credit, MyMortgages.ie and author of The Mortgage Coach.

“It’s a once in a decade or maybe even 2 decade opportunity where a new lender enters the Irish market and reduces interest rates to this extent.

Read the full article on RSVP here – https://www.rsvplive.ie/life/never-been-better-time-homeowners-22681797

Fixed-rate mortgages from 1.95%

Joey Sheahan, head of credit with MyMortgages.ie, welcomed Avant Money’s entry into the Irish market. “We have long seen European rates well below 2% compared to closer to 3% for Irish mortgage holders, and now, for the first time since before 2008, rates below 2% are available to homeowners in Ireland.”

“We are delighted to be one of Avant Money’s partners and our advice to mortgage holders is now is the time to review their current mortgage, even if they have done so recently.

“A mortgage holder with €300,000 outstanding with 32 years remaining and Loan to Value of below 60% can save €158 monthly or €60,000 over the term of mortgage based on reducing interest rate from 2.95% to 1.95%.”

Read the full article on Biz Plus here – bizplus.ie/avant-money-enters-irish-mortgage-market/

By Grainne McGuinnes,  August 05, 2019 Read More

15/07/2019

There were 71 houses and apartments sold in Sligo in May, to a total value of €8.9m, but there has been a call for the government to extend the Help to Buy Scheme to help many who cannot afford to buy.

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31/07/2019

Calls have been made to extend the Help to Buy (HBT) scheme to include second-time property buyers in Wicklow.

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Pat Flanagan

However the market appears to be cooling down overall

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