ECB hike to hit 300,000 Irish mortgages as experts warn more rises are expected

Further ECB rate hikes of up to 1.25% are expected — and they would significantly increase the cost of people's home loans

Mortgage holders may get some respite, as two banks say they won't pass on the first rate rise — but further ECB hikes are expected later this year. Stock picture: Dann Tardif/Corbis

Around 300,000 households on tracker mortgages are likely to face cost increases of over €3,000 this year after the European Central Bank on Thursday started to raise its official rates for the first time in over a decade.

ECB president Christine Lagarde told reporters a hefty half-point hike was justified as the shockwaves of energy and food inflation since the Russian invasion of Ukraine sent price pressures “spreading across more and more sectors”.