Memory might be failing on exact times (years catch up, especially so in my case). In early 2003, the SCD market lit-up.
Anglo were providing key customers with “loans” for personal houses. These were for large amounts, interest only, tracker structure. Not sure that these would be classed as “mortgages” ? They were however “personal loans” (in the documentation) and came with a full PG, and a proviso that Anglo would be putting in a full charge over the asset in question (but often never did).
AIB, BOI, and the other banks followed suit just as aggressively in the years after.
Anglo, used these loans as “hooks” for key people. They were not just for key clients (developers / builders etc.), but also key advisers in deals that banks would want to be in on (law firm partners, major commercial EAs, accountancy partners).
Irish Nationwide were the pioneers of this, but with a darker objective.
Whereas pre-2003, houses on the best roads in core Dublin traded for c. 3-4m, by 2006, they traded for 10-12m (3x in 3-4 years). The professionals went for core D4 (Raglan, Wellington) and D6 (Palmerston), as it was close to office. The developers, who were not in Dublin traffic / office hours, often went for sites in Foxrock / Blackrock, where they could build a McMansion.
As commonly happens in markets, the rise in high end resi-values (due to increased bank credit), saw banks significantly extend wider credit to all others (doctors, dentists, smaller developers / investors), on the basis that if the customer couldn’t handle the payments, the house could be flipped on with no loss (because their prices kept on rising).
That is why the upper-end of the Dublin market is still way off its peak compared to the lower end. If you took out the ex-pat, and Embassy / Corporate buyers from SCD market, it would be in even worse shape.
It is also why you almost never see an Irish bank foreclosure at the upper end (you did with BOS).
Since the sale of the Anglo loan book last year to hedge funds, you have seen more activity, however, in a lot of cases (i.e Malahide and Howth), the house is put on with a high asking price which is not going to shift for a few years (BOS had this issue, but then just forced properties to auction with highest prices accepted). I’m not sure whether the borrowers have the same protections as ordinary “mortgages” (I’m not even sure if they are legally “mortgages”).
