Retail Interest Rates: October 2020

View information release with charts and related data tables

Key Developments in Loans

• The weighted average interest rate on new mortgages agreed in Ireland stood at 2.79 per cent in October, down 14 basis points on October 2019 (Table 1 & Chart 1). The average for the euro area stood at 1.33 per cent in October, although the rate varied considerably across countries. Ireland had the second highest mortgage interest rates across the euro area in October (Chart 2).
• The weighted average interest rate on new fixed rate mortgage agreements increased by 3 basis points to 2.67 per cent in October 2020.
• For new variable rate mortgage agreements, the weighted average interest rate stood at 3.36 per cent in October, unchanged from the previous month.
• The volume of new mortgage agreements¹ amounted to €748 million in October 2020 (Chart 1), a decrease of 8 per cent on October 2019. However, this represented an increase of 11 per cent when compared with the previous month.
• €616 million was agreed in new fixed rate mortgages, and €132 million in variable rate mortgages in October.
• Fixed rate mortgages (including renegotiations)accounted for 79 per cent of all new agreements in the three months to October. This compares with 84 per cent of new agreements for the same period in the euro area.
• Renegotiated mortgages amounted to €253 million in October, down 28 per cent on the previous month (Chart 3). The weighted average interest rate for all renegotiated mortgages was 2.78 per cent in October 2020.
• New consumer lending agreements (including renegotiations) stood at €144 million in October 2020, a decrease of 26 per cent on the previous year (Chart 4).
• The average interest rate on consumer loans was 7.57 per cent in October; the equivalent euro area rate stood at 5.23 per cent.
• Total NFC loan agreements were €1,070 million in October, a fall of 31 per cent in annual terms (Chart 5).
• €178 million was agreed in new NFC loans of up to €250k  in October, which was €7 million (or 4 per cent) lower than in October 2019 (Chart 5). The weighted average interest rates on new NFC loans of up to €250k was 4.63 per cent in October. The equivalent euro area rate stood at 2 per cent.
• For new NFC loans of over €250k and up to €1 million, the volume of new lending amounted to €124 million in October. The weighted average interest rate stood at 3.29 per cent in October, with the equivalent euro area rate at 1.52 per cent.
• For new NFC loans of over €1 million, which represent 72 per cent of new NFC loans, the volume of new lending amounted to €769 million in October, a decrease of 37 per cent on October 2019. The weighted average interest rate stood at 2.27 per cent in October, compared to 1.29 per cent in the euro area.
• NFC overdrafts were 9 per cent lower in year-on-year terms in October.² This is the largest decline since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in March.

Key Developments in Deposits

• Interest rates on new household term deposits remained at 0.02 per cent in October. The equivalent euro area rate was 0.25 per cent.
• Interest rates on new NFC term deposits in Ireland stood at -0.21 per cent in October, down 9 basis points on the previous month. Corresponding NFC term deposit rates for the euro area stood at -0.17 per cent.