New mortgage lender shows Irish banks 'can cut home loan rates'

Compared to June 2019, rents dropped by an average 3.3% last month.

The official launch by new mortgage entrant Avant Money of a fixed-term mortgage below 2% for second-time buyers or switchers shows that Irish lenders can make money by cutting home loan rates, a leading broker has said.

Avant Money, which is owned by Bankinter, a lender that already sells mortgages in its home country of Spain and in Portugal, had signalled in July plans to take on existing Irish lenders, which charge among the costliest home loan rates in Europe.