While many recent property buyers are counting the pennies to make their hefty mortgage repayments, there is a comfortable majority of longer-term homeowners with small loans and modest repayments who are cruising down the home straight.
The 1999-2000 Household Budget Survey, published last week by the Central Statistics Office, shows that the average weekly mortgage payment in the State is £19.11. This is understandable when you consider that 20 years ago, the average home loan was £17,112, compared to £80,585 last year.
The CSO figures also show that urban dwellers pay more on housing expenditure than rural dwellers. Farm households have the lowest average mortgage outgoings, at £6.65 per week. Other rural households pay £15.17 per week on their mortgage and the urban homeowners' average is the highest at £22.27 per week or £95.44 per month.
As a proportion of total household expenditure, urban households spent noticeably more on housing at 10.7 per cent. The survey also breaks down the figures by income group and naturally the more money people have the higher their mortgage repayments. The richest 10 per cent of households, with a weekly income of more than £1,054, spend on average £47.28 per week on their mortgage.
Long-term mortgage holders with small monthly repayments who are nearing the end of the loan term have a certain procedure to go through and it's helpful to know what to expect.
In most financial institutions, the customer service department notifies the security department when a mortgage is paid.
The department then contacts the customer in writing to let them know that an endorsement has been placed on the mortgage deed under seal, showing that the money has been repaid. This is known as vacating the mortgage. Then the customer and lender have to arrange to return the mortgage deeds and any other documents relating to the property to the owner. No fee is charged for this handover.
The mortgage holder can either collect the relevant documents from the lender and look after the registration of the vacated mortgage themselves or they can pay the lender's solicitor to process it. Most financial institutions charge a nominal fee for this service.
The bulk of Irish property is on registered land and is in the register of titles with the Land Registry Office. This is where a record is kept of all the details relating to a property and this is where most home owners need to bring their vacated mortgage documents, if they are handling the registration themselves.
Much of the older urban property is on unregistered land and there are actual deeds that prove ownership of the property. Those who have title deeds need to bring their documents to the Registry of Deeds in the Kings Inns Buildings in Henrietta Street, Dublin. It is the individual's responsibility to ensure that all their property documents are safe.
It's advisable for married couples at the end of a mortgage term to find out if their home is in one or both names. Typically 20 years ago, the family property was in the husband's name. When the mortgage is paid off, it is a good opportunity to transfer the property into joint names.
