Can you get a mortgage from a European bank?

Rataan

With mortgage interest rates so high in Ireland, and with them being so much lower other European countries, is it possible to obtain a mortgage for a house in Ireland from a European bank?

I'm sure I'm not the first person to think of this, and the question has probably already been answered on Boards (if so, I cannot find any related threads). I'm also pretty sure the answer is going to be "No", otherwise everybody would already be doing it. I'm just interested to know if anybody on here knows the exact reason as to why it is not possible? After all, we live in the EU where there is supposedly free movement of goods and services. But we also know that is not always the case, e.g. VRT.

homer911

Putting aside the fact that Irish Banks are European Banks, lending into a particular country imposes all sorts of regulatory and code of conduct rules, not to mention specific legal issues regarding property and the recovery of debt, that no bank would be interested in this due to the internal investment needed, for what is a relatively small market

Rataan

What about all those people who during the Celtic Tiger bought properties in Spain and Bulgaria? Did they obtain their mortgages from Irish banks, or Spanish/Bulgarian banks?

pasquale83

Usually banks issue mortgages only for properties located in the country where the bank is. At least this works for Italy ans Switzerland where I have worked and where I got houses.

unclebill98

Rataan wrote: »

What about all those people who during the Celtic Tiger bought properties in Spain and Bulgaria? Did they obtain their mortgages from Irish banks, or Spanish/Bulgarian banks?

The vast majority of those purchases are considered investment mortgage and as such would have different forms and levels of securities should the mortgage become a bad debt.