There was a slight uptick within the variety of mortgages in arrears by the top of final yr, pushed by a rise within the variety of loans from nonbank lenders briefly time period arrears.
By the top of December 2023, there have been a complete of 707,045 mortgage accounts held for principal dwelling homes (PDH) within the State, valued at greater than €100 billion.
Latest figures from the Central Bank present that some 47,734 of those PDH mortgages had been in arrears by December 2023, a rise of 409 accounts, or 0.86 per cent, in comparison with the earlier quarter.
The general improve was pushed by an increase within the variety of PDH mortgage accounts coming into earlier time period arrears of lower than one yr.
The variety of mortgages in arrears for lower than 90 days elevated by 673 accounts between the third and ultimate quarter of 2023, principally held by nonbank entities, to a complete of 18,700.
The variety of PDH accounts in arrears of greater than 90 days however lower than one yr was 8,766 by the top of December, a rise of 393 in comparison with the earlier quarter.
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Meanwhile, the number of accounts in long-term arrears (more than one year) stood at 20,268 at the end of 2023, a decrease of 657 accounts from the third quarter.
Rachel McGovern, director of financial services at Brokers Ireland, said the 3 per cent rise in early arrears in the final quarter of 2023 comes on top of a 3 per cent rise in the previous quarter.
“[It] is a clear indication of the financial stress being caused by the ten ECB interest rates hikes we’ve seen since July 2022 and the follow-on will increase by Irish lenders, a few of whom haven’t utilized full follow-on will increase,” she mentioned, including that we could also be solely starting to see the impression of rate of interest hikes.
She inspired all debtors struggling to make repayments to make contact with lenders earlier than arrears occur, similar to by a mortgage dealer, “since the outcome is likely to be better than afterwards”.
The variety of home mortgages in arrears within the State peaked in June 2013, with 97,874 PDH accounts in arrears of greater than 90 days, and has steadily decreased since then.
In annual phrases, the variety of PDH mortgages in arrears for greater than 90 days fell by 3 per cent in 2023, pushed by an 11 per cent decline within the variety of accounts in long run arrears. The excellent stability on PDH mortgage accounts in arrears of greater than 90 days was greater than €5.8 billion by the top of 2023.
Of the PDH accounts in arrears, some 5,117 accounts (or 11 per cent) are at the moment a part of a authorized course of.
In the ultimate quarter of 2023, 28 PDH properties had been taken into possession by lenders, whereas 57 had been disposed of. As a consequence, lenders had been in possession of 202 PDH properties by the top of final yr.
