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Personal credit down 4pc in yr to March

Friday, June 15 11:50:52

Total credit to Irish private households outstanding on the balance sheet of resident credit institutions was E99 billion at end-March 2012, following a quarterly decline of 1.1pc and an annual decline of 4.1pc, latest figures from the Central Bank show.

Including loans for house purchase that have been securitised and continue to be serviced by resident credit institutions, the total amount of loans to private households outstanding at end-March 2012 was E148.4 billion.

The total deposits held in resident credit institutions by Irish private households was E86.9 billion at end-March 2012, following a quarterly increase of 1.0pc and an annual decline of 0.7pc.

The annual rate of change in loans for house purchase on-balance sheet was minus 2.4pc at end-March 2012, following a quarterly decline of 0.6pc.

This was the ninth consecutive quarterly decline, bringing the outstanding amount of loans for house purchase on-balance sheet to E79.9 billion. Total loans for house purchase, including securitised mortgages, peaked in March 2009 at E149 billion. The outstanding amount of securitised mortgages, which continue to be serviced by resident credit institutions, was E49.7 billion at end-March 2012. Floating rate mortgages, which include standard variable rate, tracker rate, and mortgages with a fixed rate up to one year3, accounted for 87pc of the outstanding amount of loans for house purchase on-balance sheet at end-March 2012. Tracker mortgages by themselves accounted for 49pc of outstanding loans for house purchase to Irish residents on the credit institutions' balance sheet. The share of standard variable rate mortgages increased slightly during Q1 2012 to 36pc, reflecting a net increase of E663 million during the quarter.

Fixed rate mortgages accounted for 13pc of the outstanding amount of loans for house purchase on-balance sheet at end-March 2012, following a net decline of E900 million during the quarter. Mortgages over one year and up to three years rate fixation accounted for 52pc of fixed rate mortgages outstanding, while mortgages over five years rate fixation accounted for just 11pc. Loans for principal dwellings accounted for 74pc of on-balance sheet loans for house purchase at end-March 2012. This share has remained unchanged from end-December 2010. Loans for principal dwellings fell during Q1 2012 by E320 million, reflecting an underlying decline of E733 million in fixed rate mortgages and an increase of E413 million in floating rate mortgages.

Standard variable mortgages on principal dwellings increased by E779 million during Q1 2012, while tracker mortgages declined by E276 million and mortgages fixed for up to one year also declined by E89 million. Floating rate mortgages (of which 43pc standard variable, 54pc tracker, and 2pc up to one year fixed) accounted for 85pc of the outstanding amount of loans for principal dwellings at end-March 2012. The share of floating rate mortgages was slightly higher for those loans included in a securitisation pool, at 91pc.