Moving from Tracker to Fixed Rate Mortgage

Fiona · 04-08-2022 04:39PM #1

Bought a house last year, was able to take my tracker with PTSB and then take out another mortgage with them for the balance. As a result I have two mortgages with PTSB.

€129,275.38 - tracker portability mortgage, it was 1.25% but they slap on 1% for the privilege of keeping it! So the rate is 2.25% but will be increasing now to 2.75% after the ECB rate increase - 21 years left on term.

€123,225.06 - second mortgage, 5 years fixed @ 3% - there is 4 years left on it we bought last September - 24 years left on term.

Given that the tracker rate is just useless at the moment would you be inclined to jump ship onto a fixed rate for the next couple of years?

If I was still at the 1.25% I would not even dream about fixing as the rate would be low enough to absorb some interest rate rises but with a rate of 2.75% and more increases planned fixing is very attractive for 5 or 7 years. The rate increase up to 2.75% is increasing our mortgage by €31.62 per month.

I have attached the rates available to me at present. We have a C2 house but we have done some tweaks that could bring us up to the B3 range for the green rate but 7 years sees us paying less interest with a higher monthly repayment?

Any ideas or words of advice to help me make a decision would be appreciated.

Of course my Dad is telling me to fix for 7 years....he had a commercial mortgage and residential mortgage in the 80/90s so he knows what 33% rates look like!!!!!

Rates.jpg

04-08-2022 10:14PM

I could have written this post and have a very similar dilemma. ECB plans another two rate increases according to media quotes. So the 7 year fixed might look very attractive in a years time.

Fiona · 05-08-2022 07:12AM

Well yeah in a years time I reckon we could be up to around 4.25% and the repayments will have increased by €127.

But what happens after 7 years, I believe fixed rates offerings would be very high and the standard variable rate is not much better.

I'm thinking of keeping my tracker and riding the storm I have 21 years left on the mortgage, what goes up will always come down eventually.

Sunrise_Sunset · 05-08-2022 11:37PM

I also could have written this post. I wrote a very similar one a while back :)

I decided to fix and did so last month. Went with 5 year green at 2.8% but kind of regretting not going for 7 years at 3%.

Absolutely no regrets (bar the above) in fixing the mortgage. The decision was hanging over me for a few months, but once done, I was so glad. I know what my repayments will be each month. I aim to have the mortgage cleared early too, probably not within the 5 year fixed term, but hopefully I won't have to suffer for long with a high rate once this fixed term is up.

bre26 · 10-08-2022 08:08AM

Hi, I have a tracker and with the .50% interest rate rise I am still on 1.25 (tracker was 0.75%), would you advise I stick with the tracker for now, I have 11 years left, hoping to pay it off a couple of years earlier, thanks..

NinjaTruncs · 10-08-2022 09:53PM

@bre26 I'd stay on that tracker if I was you. Even if the ECB goes up to 2% (which is where the ECB want) you'd be on 2.75%, there aren't many products on the market that can compare to that.

I was on ECB +2.25% like the op and recently switched to a 10 year fixed to protect myself against future rate hikes, I'll be hoping to have a small balance once the fixed period is up, as such I don't expect to be concerned with rates then.

Sunrise_Sunset · 11-08-2022 11:06PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119452337#Comment_119452337

I would stay put if I were you too. My (mover) tracker rate was already at 2.1% before I switched. Your rate is obviously much better.

Moving from Tracker to Fixed Rate Mortgage

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