Mortgage expert blames rules for ‘dysfunctional market’

The Irish mortgage market is “dysfunctional”, a leading mortgage broker said yesterday, squarely putting the blame on strict new Central Bank home-lending controls.

Michael Dowling, chairman of mortgage software provider Mortgage Brain, also said that banks were offering too few negative equity mortgages, with only 300 transacted last year, and that they were “not fit for purpose.”

It comes as Davy Stockbrokers published a major report that showed that home loan lending may fall short of the amount the broker had anticipated this year, as the Central Bank’s lending rules start to take effect.