Report finds 32,000 mortgage holders in arrears
More than 32,000 mortgage holders are in arrears with about two-thirds of them unable to meet payments for more than six months, official figures revealed today.
The Central Bank said that since the start of the year there has been a 13% increase in the number of homes falling behind in repayments.
Despite the increase, the amount of court actions taken against borrowers in difficulty dropped by 4.8% over the first three months.
More than 3,000 cases, including moves toward repossession, were before the court at the end of March as banks chased arrears of €90m.
In the first three months of the year, lenders took 161 cases to court – a fall of almost a third compared with the last three months of 2009.
The Central Bank said mortgages in arrears are worth a total €6.1bn.
