Bank of Ireland has raised its fixed mortgage rates again, and introduced a new one-year term deposit account.
The moves follow cumulative increases of 3.5 percentage points in the main European Central Bank (ECB) rate since July last year.
The bank will impose a 0.5 percentage point increase on the fixed rates available to new and existing customers.
This includes customers who are coming to the end of their fixed rate period and are seeking to re-fix their mortgage, and tracker rate or variable rate customers who wish to move to a fixed rate.
Variable rates and tracker rates remain unchanged, although tracker rates will have been hiked earlier this month after the most recent ECB rate increase.
Applicants who already have a credit approval and who draw down the mortgage by May 5th can still avail of the previous fixed rates.
Bank of Ireland’s new one-year term deposit account for business customers will offer a 0.5 per cent rate, capped at €250,000.
The mortgage rate changes are effective from Friday, while the new deposit account will be available from April 18th.
Bank of Ireland previously raised its fixed rates in November and January. Along with other lenders in the market, it has been responding to the ECB’s rate tightening policies, which are in reaction to persistently high inflation.
The ECB’s most recent rate hike came in the middle of this month, when it added 0.5 percentage points. That decision immediately led to higher mortgage costs for close to 250,000 tracker mortgage customers in the Republic, with several lenders increasing other rates in the weeks afterward.
The most recent data on mortgage activity in the State’s housing market meanwhile showed a sharp drop last month as higher borrowing costs dampened activity.
Figures from the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) showed last week that the volume and value of mortgages approved in February both fell as lenders raised their mortgage rates.
Some 3,378 mortgages were approved over the month, down 8.6 per cent on the previous month and 13.3 per cent on the same month last year.
The value of approvals for the month came to €945 million, down nearly 7 per cent on the previous month and 8.1 per cent in year-on-year terms.
