PTSB Leads Mortgage Rate Cuts, Putting Rivals Under Pressure

PTSB will reduce its fixed rates by up to 0.45 of a percentage point. It comes days after rival Avant Money cut its mortgage rates and doubled the cash it gives back to borrowers. The moves by PTSB and Avant Money will pile pressure on rivals AIB and Bank of Ireland to respond with better rates. PTSB said it is reducing its fixed rates from today for new and existing personal customers. The bank said this was the sixth set of reductions to fixed-rate mortgages it has announced since December 2023. The move “reflects the bank’s commitment to competing in the mortgage market and ­providing more choice for customers”. It comes after the latest Central Bank figures found that mortgage rates in this market are now close to a three-year low. News in 90 seconds, Tuesday January 20 Rate reductions apply across PTSB’s three-year, four-year, five-year and seven-year fixed-rate terms. The rate on the seven-year fixed term, for loan-to-value greater than 80pc and less than 90pc, will fall by 0.45 of a percentage point to 3.6pc. PTSB said a customer with a balance of €200,000 would save €47 a month under this offer. Rates on certain green mortgages are also reducing by up to 0.2 of a percentage point. Customers whose loan applications have been approved at the current rates, but who have not drawn down, will automatically benefit from the new, lower rates. PTSB is fully committed to competing in the Irish mortgage market and providing increased choice for customers Customers whose applications are at the pre-approval stage will also benefit from the new lower rates, the bank said. The rate reductions are in addition to PTSB’s existing “2+2” mortgage cashback offering. This is where customers receive 2pc cash back within 40 days of mortgage drawdown and those who pay their mortgage via a PTSB Explore account also benefit from a further 2pc cashback on mortgage repayments up to December 31, 2030. The bank is for sale. Head of bank products and pricing strategy at PTSB, Dermot Ryan said: “PTSB is fully committed to competing in the Irish mortgage market and providing increased choice for customers, including generous cashback offerings.” The mortgage rate cuts announced by Avant Money last week have taken effect. Avant Money, which is owned by Spain’s Bankinter, has cut its fixed rates by up to 0.35 of a percentage point. It also said it is doubling its cash back to borrowers to 2pc of the mortgage value. It has also launched mortgage for loans over €300,000, with fixed rates starting from 3.2pc for loan-to-values of less than 60pc. However, this month non-bank lenders ICS Mortgages and Spy Finance, which targets equity release products at older homeowners, raised their rates. ICS Mortgages said it is ­raising fixed home loan rates by as much as 0.45 of percentage point. Spry Finance, the trading name of Seniors Money, is raising its rates by 0.25 of a percentage point. Experts said these non-bank lenders do not have access to cheap funding from customer deposits to finance mortgage lending, unlike AIB, Bank of Ireland, PTSB, Avant Money, and MoCo.