New figures from the Central Bank show that mortgage rates here rose again in May, hitting their highest level since the middle of 2017 and rising above the euro zone average again.
The average interest rate on a new mortgage in Ireland rose from 3.63% in April to 3.84% in May.
Today's figures also show that the euro area average mortgage rate rose by 12 basis points to 3.7% in May - almost three times the rate it was two years ago.
The Central Bank noted that rates rose in all euro zone countries apart from Malta, which has the lowest rate in the bloc.
Meanwhile, revised figures from the Central Bank also show that mortgage rates here increased from 2.93% to 2.98% in February having initially been reported as a surprise fall to 2.92%.
This means rates have now been on a steady upward path since last November.
Today's figures show that the average interest rate on new fixed rate mortgage agreements, which make up 86% of new home loans, rose by 24 basis points to 3.78% in May.
The total volume of pure new mortgage agreements amounted to €869m in May, an increase of 9% on
the previous month, and an increase of 25% compared to the same time last year.
Daragh Cassidy, head of communications at mortgage broker bonkers.ie, said today's figures are unsurprising given the big increases in mortgage rates that have been announced over the past few months.
But he said that Irish mortgage rates are still among the lowest in the euro zone - for now at least - as the main banks here have been so slow at passing on the full brunt of the ECB rate increases to their mortgage customers.
"Since last July, the ECB has hiked rates by four percentage points, with another 0.25 percentage point hike likely to come when the ECB meets again near the end of the month," he said.
"However the main banks have only hiked their fixed rates by around 1.5 to two percentage points on average. And variable rates have only gone up by around one percentage point at AIB and Permanent TSB, and they haven't moved at all at Bank of Ireland," he added.
But Mr Cassidy said this "generosity" has largely come at the expense of savers and savings rates here are still poor.
"The best rate from the Irish banks is just 2% from AIB. And Bank of Ireland and PTSB only pay a maximum of 1.5%. However deposit rates over 3.6% are now available from some banks in Europe," he added.
He also said that prospective mortgage holders and those on trackers in particular are being warned that the outlook is for rates to go even higher over the coming months.
