Irish first-time buyers pay €61k more in interest than other Europeans

The Government and Central Bank regulators have been accused of letting down customers after it emerged Irish first-time buyers will pay up to €61,641 more in interest costs over the lifetime of their mortgages than anywhere else in Europe.

Overcharging of interest rates means Irish new home buyers in their lifetimes will pay the equivalent of at least one year of the national average full-time wage of around €45,600 just to meet the additional interest costs levied by lenders here.

Figures prepared for the Irish Examiner by Michael Dowling — one of the country’s leading mortgage brokers and debt advisers —show a first-time buyer in Dublin currently pays €206 a month more in interest payments than a new homeowner living in the rest of Europe, and will end up paying €61,641 more in interest costs over the life of the 25-year mortgage than their fellow Europeans.