New figures from the Financial Regulator show the problem of mortgage arrears is growing. The number of mortgage accounts in arrears for more than 90 days in the first quarter of the year increased by 13% compared to the end of December 2009.
At the end of March, just over 4% of all private residential mortgage accounts in Ireland were in arrears.
Over 32,000 out of a total of 791,000 mortgages, worth €118 billion, were in arrears for over 90 days. Of these, 21,817 mortgages (2.76%) were in arrears of more than 180 days.
By value, €6.1 billion was owed in relation to accounts more than 90 days falling behind payment schedules, of which €4.1 billion was owed for accounts more than 180 days in arrears
Today's figures also show a fall in the number of legal actions taken by financial institutions to enforce outstanding mortgage debt.
The Central Bank notes a drop of 4.8% in the number of arrears cases in which legal proceedings have been issued. There are just over 3,000 such cases, where some €90m is in arrears.
During the first quarter of this year another 91 properties were repossessed by banks. 26 were repossessed after court orders, and 65 by voluntary agreement of the borrowers or by abandonment.
32 properties were disposed of in the first quarter of 2010. The Central Bank says this left mortgage holders with 456 repossessed properties at the end of March.
The Irish Banking Federation (IBF) said that, although the percentage of mortgages in arrears had increased, the number of repossessions and the number of cases going before the courts had fallen. The IBF said this confirmed that 'forbearance' by mainstream lenders was helping distressed homeowners.
The number of repossessions during Q1 fell to 91 from 101 in the previous quarter. The number of cases before the courts fell to 161 from 233 in the previous quarter.
