News

Covid-19 has undoubtedly changed many aspects of our lives, some of which we would hope to return to as soon as the clouds of the pandemic lift. However, there are some areas where our habits may have shifted permanently and are unlikely to revert completely to the old ways. One example is our relationship with…

The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) has said it expects the median price of a home in Ireland to increase by almost €14,000 this year. A poll of its 580 members predicts a 5% rise in property prices, with most of that frontloaded to the first three months of the year. It reveals that…

Home ownership among adults of prime working age has “collapsed” since the financial crisis, according to a report from the Parliamentary Budget Office. Using an international housing affordability survey, the Parliamentary Budget Office concludes the cost of housing here is “severely unaffordable”. The report says this is partly due to “rising rents” and “surging house…

The National Treasury Management Agency raised 3.5 billion euros from the sale of a new 10-year bond, a lead manager for the deal said, covering at least a quarter of its funding needs for 2022. The NTMA, like other European debt management offices, regularly raises a chunk of funds early in the year by selling…

The right to request flexible work arrangements is set to become a reality this year for Irish workers as the EU’s Work Life Balance Directive must be implemented by the Government by October this year. The EU Directive means that employees who are in a caring role such as parents or carers will have the…

Ireland’s mortgage rates for new loans remained the second highest in the euro area in November, according to the Central Bank. Greece had the highest rates in the euro area. The weighted average interest rate on new mortgages was 2.7% in November, a reduction of 8 basis points or 0.08%, on November 2020. The euro…

The unemployment rate, adjusted to include those on the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP), rose to 7.5% in December compared to 6.9% in November. The traditional seasonally adjusted monthly unemployment rate fell from 5.2% or 135,000 people in November to 5.1% or 132,100 people in December, the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office show today.…

The rate at which the price of used cars is increasing has reached a new high, driven by the supply shortages caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit. In the last three months of the year, the inflation rate for used cars grew a further 7.7%, the second highest quarterly price rise since 2011, according…

The average take home pay of workers on the minimum wage increased over the years from 2016-2018, according to new research from the Economic and Social Research Institute. The report also finds that the hours worked by some on the minimum wage, fell by almost one hour per week. But the increase in the minimum…

Almost 5,000 mortgages were approved in November, up 8.6% on the previous month but down 4.6% on the same time last year. New figures from Banking and Payments Federation Ireland reveal that over half of all mortgages approved during the month were for First Time Buyers (FTBs), while mover purchasers accounted for just under 28%.…