Fixed mortgage rates urged

HOMEOWNERS have been urged to fix their mortgage interest rates now by one of the country’s leading economists.

Niall Dunne, economist with Ulster Bank, says it is likely interest rates will rise in the second half of this year or early in 2006 in response to rising inflation in Europe.

In Ulster Bank’s latest report, Mr Dunne said now was the ideal time for mortgage holders to fix their repayment as it was inevitable that they will rise from “record and unsustainable lows in the months ahead.”