Mortgage war hots up on PTSB tracker move
Saturday March 24 2007
The move to introduce a competitively priced LTV (Loan To Value) mortgage by Permanent TSB means a full-scale home-loans war has now broken out.
Bank of Ireland is now expected to wade into the mortgage battle.
Permanent TSB, which has almost one-quarter of the mortgage market, is set to make typical cuts of around 0.25pc in its tracker rates over the life of a home loan.
The home-loan provider currently offers trackers which are priced at the European Central Bank (ECB) rate plus 1.35pc.
When it introduces its new products in mid-April, the tracker rate is expected to fall to ECB plus 1.1pc, with some products as low as ECB plus 0.75pc, the Irish Independent has learned. The move will bring Permanent TSB close to the LTV rates introduced by AIB in February.
However, National Irish Bank will continue to be the best value in the market for those who have built up a lot of equity in their homes.
Permanent TSB is aiming its products at those who owe their lender less than 80pc of the value of their home.
NIB and AIB, in contrast, have targeted their LTV offerings at those who owe less than 50pc of the value of their properties.
Borrowers with larger loans and low loans to value will fare best with the new Permanent TSB product offerings, it is understood from mortgage market sources.
The new products will be offered to new and existing customers. And Permanent will not require borrowers switching their home loan to it to also switch their current account, unlike NIB. There will still be one-year discount offers for new customers.
- Charlie Weston
