Punters take a gamble on interest rates

WHAT constitutes a gambling problem? A willingness to lose a few hundred a month?

If that's the case, Tánaiste Mary Harney's question of whether Ireland is closer to Boston than Berlin may be missing the point. Because judging by Irish homeowners' appetite for gambling on interest rates, the spirit of Las Vegas has made its way here.

The Central Statistics Office chirped the merry message this week that three out of four first-time buyers find their mortgages "manageable". This is not quite as surprising as it looks. After all, anyone who takes out a mortgage will surely find it "manageable" on day one they wouldn't sign up in the first place otherwise. And in the last number of years, interest rates have fallen, so in reality anyone who has taken out a home loan should have found it progressively easier to manage repayments.