Rockstead was delighted to sponsor The Irish Banking Federation (IBF) conference in Dublin last week, which focussed on the housing and mortgage market in Ireland and brought together a number of high profile speakers who presented to over 120 attendees.
The conference was chaired by Jim O’Keeffe of AIB, who also acts as Chair of the Mortgage Council at the IBF. The agenda included a review of the supply of housing in Ireland and the effect of National Asset Management Agency’s (NAMA) involvement in it.
Panel debates on the subjects of funding and lending strategies included representatives of AIB, Bank of Ireland, Ulster Bank, KBC and PTSB. There were encouraging comments from the panel, with expressions of lending appetite, but qualified by an enhanced focus on affordability measures to reflect regulatory concerns and to avoid some of the lending mistakes of the past.
Paula ter Brake, Rockstead’s Country Manager in Ireland, presented on the continuing arrears crisis and the need for long term sustainable solutions and, on a more cheerful note, reported on the increasing activity in mortgage trades within the Irish market, giving insight into the different challenges for both sellers and purchasers.
Continuing with a positive outlook with the prospects for potential investors and new entrants into the mortgage sector, she highlighted how Rockstead had continued to develop its operation from Dublin, with recent due diligence reviews and ongoing staffing solutions within the Banking sector as examples of its increasing significance in the Irish market.
A full copy of her presentation can be found here.