The decision this week by Finance Ireland to sell their 40% stake in Nua Homeloans to their joint venture partner, Investec came as somewhat of a surprise in industry circles.
The good news for customers and for Irish mortgage brokers is that there is now the prospect of a minimum of six ’specialist’ mortgage lenders remaining in the market.
Start Mortgages (also owned by Investec) and GE Money were the first two lenders to enter the market and they have been followed by Springboard Mortgages, Stepstone Mortgages, Nua Homeloans and more recently by Fresh Mortgages. When Investec bought the parent company of Start (Kensington in the UK), the conventional wisdom was that a merger of Start and Nua was imminent. The most recent announcement makes this look less likely and a sale of Start Mortgages involving the senior management team of Start now looks the most likely outcome. This would mean that Nua and Start would remain in the market as seperate entities with different owners.
While interest rates in this market have risen in recent weeks on the back of the global credit squeeze, some of the impact of this has been offset by the extra choice available in the market. Stiff competition among lenders has translated into lower rates and additonal product ‘bells and whistles’ which is all good news for customers.
