By Charlie Weston
Tuesday May 04 2010
BANKS desperate to clean up their balance sheets could soon start trying to tempt mortgage holders to go elsewhere by offering them up to €15,000 off their home loan.
But Mr Kinane warned: "Consumers need to be extremely vigilant as experience would indicate that you get nothing for nothing as far as the banks are concerned."
He said that a homeowner with a €300,000 variable rate mortgage may be tempted by having 3pc to 5pc of this loan written off, which would amount to a discount of between €9,000 and €15,000.
The IBA said it believes tracker customers would need a break-deal offer above 25pc (€75,000 on a €300,000 mortgage) to make it worth their while. He said that customers who dealt directly with the banks could have significant pressure brought to bear on them to change their terms.
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