Property, Mortgage & Insurance News from the Best Deal 4 U

---

Republic of Ireland housing market in slowdown

---

Tuesday, November 27, 2007 16:32:21

---

Republic of Ireland housing market in slowdown

The number of new mortgages issued in Ireland fell 25% in the three months to the end of September, figures show.

About 40,992 new mortgages were issued, down from 54,623 mortgages a year ago, Irish Banking Federation/PwC Mortgage Market Profile figures showed.

Mortgage lending dropped 18% to 8.98bn euros (£6.5bn; $13.4bn) from the same quarter a year ago.

House prices have quadrupled in the decade that economic success earned Ireland the name the Celtic tiger.

However, that success has brought higher interest rates and those are now influencing borrowers' decisions to stay put, the report said.

Interest rates in the eurozone are 4%, following successive rate increases by the European Central Bank.

A slowdown in the housing sector may feed into the wider Irish economy, analysts said.

Last year, construction accounted for almost a quarter of Ireland's gross national product.