Irish mortgage arrears are falling - Moody’s

Ratings agency Moody’s said on Wednesday that the quality of Irish mortgages continues to improve as arrears fall and restructurings kick in.

In the three-month period ended July 2015, Moody’s said that arrears levels in Irish residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS) portfolios decreased at both early and late stages on both a quarterly and annual basis. And it forecasts further improvement.

“Continued stabilisation of the housing market, robust employment trends and gradual restoration of consumer confidence will lead to a further measured reduction in arrears,” the ratings agency said, although it did caution that the significant decrease in arrears displayed in the Irish RMBS market during the last periods might be driven, “not exclusively because of the improving economic environment but by the increased use of restructurings”.

In addition, Moody’s said that the Irish RMBS market still displays higher delinquency ratios than its European peers.