More Eurozone consumers struggling with housing costs

'Given the present and future effects of both increased interest rates and loss of purchasing power owing to inflation, the ability of households to meet their housing-related costs and mortgage payments is a source of concern,' the article said. File Picture: Unsplash

The number of eurozone consumers that are struggling to pay for housing has increased following years of above-target inflation and surging borrowing costs, according to European Central Bank (ECB) research.

The share of lower-income households expecting to make late payments for utilities or rent rose to more than 20% in the first quarter from about 15% in 2023, ECB researchers Omiros Kouvavas and Desislava Rusinova said. For mortgage payments, it nearly doubled to 30%.

“Given the present and future effects of both increased interest rates and loss of purchasing power owing to inflation, the ability of households to meet their housing-related costs and mortgage payments is a source of concern,” the article said.

Meanwhile, figures recently published by the Central Bank showed short-term mortgage arrears in the Republic crept upwards in the last three months of 2023.

There was a 3% rise, or 673 more mortgages, in early arrears in the period, according to the Central Bank.

In addition, the Residential Property Index increased by 6.1% in annual terms in February, according to separate figures published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) last week.

- Reporting by Bloomberg and Irish Examiner