Costs of mortgage interest stand out with rise of 1.9% during Covid period

Other types of housing costs have continued to fall in that period, according to the latest Consumer Price Index. 

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Bank mortgage interest rates stand out in official figures as one of few items to have risen significantly in the past year since the onset of the Covid pandemic, even as many retail prices fall across the economy. 

The CSO figures show that the costs of mortgage interest have risen by a significant 1.9% in February from February 2020, on the eve of the breaking of the Covid health crisis, even though prices for all goods and services across the crisis-hit economy fell by 0.4%.