ICS hikes fixed-rate mortgages in sign that bank rivals may not be far behind

Financial markets are betting that the ECB will start squeezing eurozone interest rates higher in the coming months to respond to inflation pressures that have been made worse by the war in Ukraine. 

An early hike in fixed-rate mortgages by lender ICS Mortgages signals the end of the long cycle of home loan reductions in Ireland, as the surge in global inflation takes its toll.                                      

ICS which is owned by the Dilosk had hinted in recent weeks it would be forced to increase mortgage rates but it has made its move a number of months before other bank-based rivals because it takes its wholesale funding from a smaller pool of investors.