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AIB set to announce mortgage rates up by .5%

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  • 29-03-2010 1:03pm
    #1
    Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 5,468 Mod ✭✭✭✭


    Breaking news...


«1

Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 1,389 ✭✭✭Thanos


    Well we knew it was on its way, question is now that they have moved how long before the others move??????


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,124 ✭✭✭Amhran Nua


    Thanos wrote: »
    Well we knew it was on its way, question is now that they have moved how long before the others move??????
    And how far and how fast.


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,102 ✭✭✭mathie


    Well I certainly hope everyone took the nice Estate Agents advice and bought up a few properties before the interest rate hikes started.
    :rolleyes:


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 167 ✭✭Tender Hoop


    i fixed into a 5 year rate of 3.86% last month. Glad I did.


  • Registered Users Posts: 17,852 ✭✭✭✭Idbatterim


    people might be pi**ed off at this seeing as how the taxpayer is bailing them out! but what do you expect, their is a total conflict of interest!


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  • Registered Users Posts: 3,308 ✭✭✭quozl


    Idbatterim wrote: »
    people might be pi**ed off at this seeing as how the taxpayer is bailing them out! but what do you expect, their is a total conflict of interest!

    I'm a tax-payer and I'm not annoyed.

    It costs AIB more to borrow the money they lend to people than they're currently charging those people.

    Significantly more.

    So if AIB raise their interest rates they will be slightly less loss making, and tax-payers will have to prop them up that little bit less.

    Sounds like a sensible business decision to be honest.


  • Registered Users Posts: 216 ✭✭Highly Salami


    quozl wrote: »
    I'm a tax-payer and I'm not annoyed.

    Thats a first!
    (sorry if post is a bit After Hours-ey)


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,308 ✭✭✭quozl


    Thats a first!
    (sorry if post is a bit After Hours-ey)

    True, I should have said 'over this one specific issue'.

    TBH, AIB should have raised their rates previously. I'm sure they didn't because they were waiting for NAMA to be copper-fastened before they did anything too embarassing to the government in public.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 12,382 ✭✭✭✭AARRRGH


    quozl wrote: »
    I'm a tax-payer and I'm not annoyed.

    It costs AIB more to borrow the money they lend to people than they're currently charging those people.

    Significantly more.

    So if AIB raise their interest rates they will be slightly less loss making, and tax-payers will have to prop them up that little bit less.

    Sounds like a sensible business decision to be honest.

    I agree.


  • Registered Users Posts: 620 ✭✭✭BobbyD10


    It's only a matter of time before the other banks follow.

    My question is when will AIB raise the rates again by a further 0.50%, as their rates are still relatively low.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 12,382 ✭✭✭✭AARRRGH


    BobbyD10 wrote: »
    It's only a matter of time before the other banks follow.

    My question is when will AIB raise the rates again by a further 0.50%, as their rates are still relatively low.

    Sooner rather than later I hope.

    Forcing everyone to subsidise mortgage holders' below cost mortgages is wrong.


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 32,285 Mod ✭✭✭✭The_Conductor


    Hmmm- this will well and truly torpedo our negative rate of inflation- alongside consumer confidence....... I'm on a tracker, thank god, I think there is a whole lot of hurt coming down the road for all of us........


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,909 ✭✭✭Agent J


    The timing is very suspect.

    I agree it had to be done but it had been telegraphed for the Summer.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,236 ✭✭✭Coyote


    Agent J wrote: »
    The timing is very suspect.

    I agree it had to be done but it had been telegraphed for the Summer.

    The timing is very very suspect, AIB have been in talk with the government all weekend about how much capitol they will need and how long they will have to find the cash to offset loses and how much the haircut on NAMA loans will be along with how much of AIB the government will end up owning. I would guess this was a shot across the bow of the government to say don't try to take too much or they will just set there rates high to make more cash and what can people do.
    the low interest rates have helped a lot of people who lost jobs to stay in there homes, and given people who got pay cuts more money to spend on other stuff. if the banks raised rates very high it would help them cover there loses but would be very bad for the economy and increase the chances of strikes as people would not have enough to live on.


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 32,285 Mod ✭✭✭✭The_Conductor


    The fact that low interest rates have helped people with their mortgage payments- is wholly irrelevant to the argument. The original proposal was for an increase in loan margins almost a year ago- but for political reasons this was put off to Q1-Q2 2010. This is what was signalled to the financial markets. If the announcement is early- its only by a few weeks, its exactly what they said they were doing- and they are only following the steps of ILP and some smaller lenders who managed to get off the blocks last autumn.........

    Its going to be incredibly tough across the board for everyone- but any increase in Irish lending margins- is only bringing them to international normal lending levels- and was always going to be necessary if the lending institutions wanted any hope whatsoever of raising institutional funding. AIB and BOI's last bond raising exercise only got off at rates of 5.8 and 5.1% respectively (AIB being seen by investors as being in far worse trouble than BOI).

    Whatever about this .5% rise- the hurt will really begin to bite when the ECB starts to increase its base rates- and it has already signalled that inflation is heading in a worrying direction (no doubt the recent oil price rises play a significant role here).

    S.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,236 ✭✭✭Coyote


    I don't think that it's irrelevant that low interest rates have helped people and the economy. I'm not saying that the rates did not need to go up. everyone knew that it was going to happen you can't borrow money at 5% and lend at 3.5%. but I still think that it was a warring to the government that if they force a very short time for getting Irish banks reserve up to 7-8% making AIB need more government cash injected and having to give a larger % to the government. if they can't make the 7-8% in short time but could in a longer time period then AIB might just put rates up another 1.5-2% so needing less government cash but doing damage to the economy. the timing is just odd they have been in talks over the weekend and AIB was not happy with what the government wanted to do and the day before the government said what the plans were AIB raise the rates.


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 32,285 Mod ✭✭✭✭The_Conductor


    I accept what you're saying.
    The fact of the matter is the Irish banks who availed of the government guarantee- kept their rates at artificially low levels. The government guarantee in turn- was priced at an artificially low level- to offset these artificially low rates being offered to consumers. The new government guarantee- is priced at market rates (at the insistence of the EU Commission- in order to satisfy state aid rules). This is in keeping with the schemes approved for other EU countries. The margins on loans in other EU countries is at levels at least 1.5-2% above those on Irish loans (which is partially why RBS, Rabo and some other lenders are withdrawing from the Irish market- they can't compete with the Irish rates).

    So- in addition to subsidising Irish loans with a cutprice loan guarantee- the banks have also been borrowing money at between 5.1 and 5.8% and relending at 2.6-2.8%- something very obviously had to give- the sums simply didn't add up.

    ILP got out the door with its increase in lending rates last autumn- and it in turn is one of the only lenders not on state support at the moment (though it has a hole of between 600-700m in its finances).

    Bank of Ireland, AIB et al- have been subsidising the Irish economy for the last 2 years- however they have been forced by the EU Commission to produce viable business plans- in exchange for the Commission agreeing to NAMA and the bank refinancing schemes. Part of their viability plans- as they are businesses at the end of the day- details how they plan to return to profitability. They cannot return to profitability if they are loosing between 2.1 and 2.7% on every loan they put out the door.

    AIBs business plan is with the Commission at the moment- and does chart a 1.5% increase in lending margins (aside from any other increases) to bring it to international normal levels- and also to make it more attractive to institutional investors- so it can raise money privately and not rely solely on taxpayer money. The .5% rise this morning is simply phase 1. The June and September rises, will also go ahead- irrespective of NAMA etc- its part of the refinancing deal. The government have been aware of this since the business plan was submitted to Brussels- so its pretty rich of them to act all innocent all of a sudden........


  • Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 5,468 Mod ✭✭✭✭spockety


    This only affects 10% of AIB mortgage holders. They have 60% on trackers and 30% on fixed!

    Until the ECB start raising rates there is nothing they can do to bleed cash out of their tracker holders, unfortunately for the taxpayer.


  • Registered Users Posts: 113 ✭✭stantheman8


    Interesting time to re-start this thread following today's announcement of another 0.5% rate increase.

    For those who are not p1ssed off with the banks - tell me again why considering it was their outright greed and mis-management that got us into this situation?? :mad:


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 32,285 Mod ✭✭✭✭The_Conductor


    Interesting time to re-start this thread following today's announcement of another 0.5% rate increase.

    For those who are not p1ssed off with the banks - tell me again why considering it was their outright greed and mis-management that got us into this situation?? :mad:

    To be perfectly honest with you- it wasn't outright greed and mismanagement on the part of the banks- it was the lack of regulation and the encouragement of risk taking by the regulator and government- who saw property related taxes as the way for them to have their cake and eat it......

    Anglo Irish was throwing money out the door- AIB and Bank of Ireland were in fact exercising relative prudence- however they couldn't compete with the upstart Anglo- and the regulator certainly wasn't going to throw a spanner in the works- so it was a case of join them, or commit hari kari on the stock exchange.

    Thankgod we have a financial regulator now who is willing to knock a few heads together- but its about 10 years too late.......


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  • Registered Users Posts: 7,208 ✭✭✭bobbysands81


    smccarrick wrote: »
    To be perfectly honest with you- it wasn't outright greed and mismanagement on the part of the banks- it was the lack of regulation and the encouragement of risk taking by the regulator and government- who saw property related taxes as the way for them to have their cake and eat it......

    Anglo Irish was throwing money out the door- AIB and Bank of Ireland were in fact exercising relative prudence- however they couldn't compete with the upstart Anglo- and the regulator certainly wasn't going to throw a spanner in the works- so it was a case of join them, or commit hari kari on the stock exchange.

    Thankgod we have a financial regulator now who is willing to knock a few heads together- but its about 10 years too late.......

    Of course it was the greed of the banks that got us where we are. Yes regulation should have been better but nobody but the banks made the banks act the way they did. They need to take responsibility for their actions.

    Someone else on this thread said that only 10% of AIBs mortgage customers are variable and that 60% are tracker and 30% are fixed. So the bank are bleeding the 10% dry to make up for losses from the other 90%, dress it up any way you like but that sounds like bad management to me.

    I've taken a 15% wage cut part of which is going to the countless billions that the taxpayer of this country is being forced to shell out to the banks.

    In order to pay for these countless billions being pumped in to keep the banks afloat I've had to take a triple whammy. My wages are down, the tax I pay is up, and the mortgage I pay has gone through the roof.

    What p1sses me off unbelievably is that the increases are going up from close of business tomorrow so I am being given no fcukin time at all by AIB to come up with an extra €150 this month and that's €150 I just don't have. Why not be a bit fair about these things and give people time to react to the increases???


    EDIT: - I forgot to add that the banks played the Govt like an old fiddle when it came to honest declarations about NAMA, the banks seem to have lied through their teeth to the Govt who utterly fell for their lies whilst the taxpayers, mortgage holders and workers/unemployed pick up the tab.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,731 ✭✭✭Bullseye1


    It looks like the poor people on variable are making up for the loses trackers. Its unrealistic to keep rising variable rates in this economy and expect people not to default.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,003 ✭✭✭Treehouse72


    Bullseye1 wrote: »
    It looks like the poor people on variable are making up for the loses trackers.


    That strikes me as the case too - the 40% on (rising) SVR's are in effect subsidising the 60% on (static) trackers. This seems an arbitrary and unfair sharing of mortgage holders' collective burden. They all have comparable debts and yet a large minority are paying for the shared mistakes of the collective. That's unjust. If I had an SVR mortgage and my neighbour had the same mortgage on a tracker, I would feel very, very sore about it.


  • Registered Users Posts: 6,109 ✭✭✭Cavehill Red


    That strikes me as the case too - the 40% on (rising) SVR's are in effect subsidising the 60% on (static) trackers. This seems an arbitrary and unfair sharing of mortgage holders' collective burden. They all have comparable debts and yet a large minority are paying for the shared mistakes of the collective. That's unjust. If I had an SVR mortgage and my neighbour had the same mortgage on a tracker, I would feel very, very sore about it.

    Did you not have the option to take out a tracker when you drew down your mortgage? Or did you instead opt for the SVR because at that time it was cheaper than a tracker, which is what the majority of SVR holders did?
    If that was the case, you're not paying for any mistakes of tracker mortgage holders. They didn't make a mistake. You're paying for your own mistake of choosing a mortgage option that now doesn't suit you.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,003 ✭✭✭Treehouse72


    Did you not have the option to take out a tracker when you drew down your mortgage? Or did you instead opt for the SVR because at that time it was cheaper than a tracker, which is what the majority of SVR holders did?
    If that was the case, you're not paying for any mistakes of tracker mortgage holders. They didn't make a mistake. You're paying for your own mistake of choosing a mortgage option that now doesn't suit you.


    My mortgage is the best kind of mortgage to have at the moment. It's called rent.


  • Registered Users Posts: 6,109 ✭✭✭Cavehill Red


    My mortgage is the best kind of mortgage to have at the moment. It's called rent.

    Very good option indeed in the current economic climate and market!
    I suppose the point I was making (and I say this being in full agreement that everyone in Government and the top echelons of the banks ought to be jailed for what they've done) was that when people drew down their mortgages, be they tracker, SVR, endowment or whatever, they had options to choose from and picked the one they thought suited them best.
    For plenty of people, buyer's regret is now kicking in. But it strikes me that when it comes to making a decision about accruing debt for decades or longer, probably the biggest single purchase you're liable to make, surely you do your homework?
    It's frankly ridiculous to blame tracker holders for the woes of SVR holders facing payment hikes. The people to blame are the bank officials who oversaw the collapse of their liquidity through preposterous lending practices, largely to a golden circle of individuals who have accrued truly spectacular debts that will never be repaid (while still retaining their mansions and sports cars, of course!)
    This is another fake row like the public v private sector row, or the taxpayer v benefits recipients argument.
    The people to blame are the bankers and their facilitators in government.


  • Registered Users Posts: 6,897 ✭✭✭amacca


    Of course it was the greed of the banks that got us where we are. Yes regulation should have been better but nobody but the banks made the banks act the way they did. They need to take responsibility for their actions.

    Have to disagree with you....I've been listening to a constant drone for the past few months, it goes a little something like this...the banks the banks the banks......I feel like I'm at Christmas panto and the banks are the villains...they don't need to take responsibility for their actions they need to be put on a sound footing so they are viable again and then they need to be watched/regulated properly so they are forced to make prudent lending decisions etc to ensure this sort of situation never arises again, they need to be made take responsibility for their actions and consequences need to be applied if and when they don't + our society needs to find a way to drastically reduce the effects of cronieism in areas so vitally important to the state as this (at least for a relatively long period until people inevitably forget the consequences of a bubble and lose the run of themselves with some new craze....suppose its unrealistic to expect people to act sensibly forever)

    so many posters refer to the banks as if each of them was a single person that are somehow personally responsible for their actions.....they simply are not....they are a for profit organization (much more powerful and harder to control than an individual) that will always act in their own greedy best interests, to expect anything else is unrealistic, they are not responsible for their greed, its the only reason they exist (at least in their own frame of reference it is.....obviously those outside the bank can see other reasons for them to exist such as current accounts/money transfer/savings/jobs/startup capital/business lending etc)

    ...anyway to echo what I believe to be the main thrusts of smccaricks post if they are not properly regulated they will not function properly....what happened at AIB and BOI (to a lesser extent it seems) happened because Anglo (and lets not forget Irish Nationwide) pursued a ahem *aggressive* lending policy which saw the size of these banks ballooning rapidly in size and taking up market share...this led to AIB/BOI jumping in closer to the end of the madness because their market was being snatched from under their noses....if you cant beat them join them (no matter how flawed their policies were) a sort of keeping up with the jones - it seems to be working for seanie fitz et al we cant afford to miss the boat here goggins says young sheehy


    Its disgusting.....its revolting....its astounding Anglo and Irish nationwide were allowed turn into such monsters (I personally find the stats on Irish nationwide incredible considering it was only supposed to be a small building society) but its not really their responsibility--the system didn't control them properly, it was always going to happen........

    I liken what happened to parents leaving a number of small children unattended in a house over a weekend with lots of sharp cutlery lying around, maybe a drinks cabinet unlocked, dads secret stash lying casually on the sofa, and oh perhaps a couple of loaded shotguns in the house....in this scenario I imagine the small children to be "the banks" and I imagine the parents to be the "regulators" in all honesty is the outcome of this ever going to be anything particularly positive

    question is, who would you blame in this situation, would it be a) the banks (small children driven by curiosity[insert share price and profit margins here] with no sense of responsibilty if you're not working towards or making an effort to give it to them) or b the regulators (parents who believe in light touch parenting .....ah paddy sure we'll look in on them on monday and see how they are doing, sure they'll have to learn how to open a tin of beans sometime!)


    basically I don't blame the banks one bit....true to form they are doing or trying to do exactly what they always have tried to do ...make money...unfortunately in the recent past they went for short term gain for a small number of individuals under the stewardship of mini dictators that lost the run of themselves and long term pain for the rest of us.....but thats hardly their fault... they were let do it....we let them do it to some extent...a lot of us share some responsibility for what happened...a majority of us elected our politicians..allowed ourselves to be bought off with wage increases/social welfare increases etc while house prices/food/etc went through the roof, bloody hard to say no to a wage increase etc though isn't it? Mary I'm not accepting that 2.5% sure its for the good of the country dontcha know!


    question is, now that the tide is out and you can see whose been swimming without their boxers...are you going to let them do it again?

    or will you be bought off (like the majority) if someone offers you the right incentive?

    I say punish those in positions of responsibilty in banks if it can be proven they have commited a crime, come down hard on directors with large unpaid loans, if at all possible institute a legal mechanism for a reduction in the massive pensions/or clawback of bonuses paid to boards of directors and ceos if a bank is partially or fully under state control or gets injections of public money.....if this is necessary then clearly said directors/ceos were not doing their jobs properly and should not be entitled to such performance bonuses etc...reality is I suppose their contracts awarded bonuses on the basis of meeting lending targets and never mentioned how reckless or not the lending had to be..but still Id like to see at least an effort at something done about this.....if only as a deterrant for the next generation of would be gordon gekko bankers.

    expecting the banks to take responsibilty for their actions...silly imo...go after the individuals and hit them where it hurts (their wallets).....and moreso "going forward" as B.Cowen would say....because as much as it pains me to say it, going after it retrospectively is a bit like closing the barn door.


  • Registered Users Posts: 6,109 ✭✭✭Cavehill Red


    amacca wrote: »
    in this scenario I imagine the small children to be "the banks" and I imagine the parents to be the "regulators" in all honesty is the outcome of this ever going to be anything particularly positive

    Metaphor FAIL.


  • Registered Users Posts: 6,897 ✭✭✭amacca


    Metaphor FAIL.

    really? how so?


    regulators (in Ireland during bubble) = parents irresponsible in their actions and not applying consequences for bad behavior

    banks = immature children who don't want to or cant see the bigger picture because of their nature - banks behavior driven by bottom line - unless responsibility is imposed on them someone will always rise to the top and run the organization for short term profits, selfish personal gain with no eye on sustainability

    I always thought a metaphor was a comparison that shows how two things that are not alike in most ways can be similar in some?


    until you show me the error of my ways I'm going to have to declare a

    FAIL FAIL


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  • Registered Users Posts: 6,109 ✭✭✭Cavehill Red


    amacca wrote: »
    really? how so?


    regulators (in Ireland during bubble) = parents irresponsible in their actions and not applying consequences for bad behavior

    Fail part one - there was no significant regulation because the government oversee the regulators. (Or perhaps you consider them the grandparents?)
    amacca wrote: »
    banks = immature children

    Fail part two - this attempts to exonerate adult men (and one woman) being paid millions of quid a year (plus whatever they grabbed in bonuses and dodgy loans) from their behaviour.
    They weren't children, they were gamblers and crooks. They weren't unaware of their actions, they knew exactly what they were doing.
    amacca wrote: »
    I always thought a metaphor was a comparison that shows how two things that are not alike in most ways can be similar in some?

    Fail part three - relying on google and RHL School's website to tell you what a metaphor is.
    A metaphor is an analogy which connotes a semantic meaning by way of comparison.
    Your comparison is sh!t, because none of it maps across from the one concept to the other.


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