Thousands of struggling buy-to-let investors are facing a dramatic increase in mortgage payments over the next four years, the Irish Times reported. A study by Central Bank staff says that many borrowers currently on interest-only payments are set to switch to a traditional amortising mortgage between now and 2022. That means they will have to start paying down the principal of the loan, a move that will significantly increase their monthly repayments. Close to half of buy-to-let mortgages examined in the study were interest-only.

Central Bank governor Philip Lane said on Tuesday that he expected property prices in Ireland to “cool off” over time as supply increased, although he pointed to the continuing “strong fundamentals” of the market here, the Irish Times reported. Irish house prices have risen by 76 per cent from the post-crash trough, with Dublin residential property prices up 90.1 per cent from their February 2012 lows, while a recent survey from Knight Frank placed Ireland as the fourth fastest growing property market in the world.

As minister for financial services and insurance, Michael D’Arcy has been responsible for leading Ireland’s fintech charge for the past twelve months and two weeks, the Financial Times reported. “Not once” has he been asked about the financial crisis that pushed the country’s biggest banks, and the country itself, into a bailout less than a decade ago.

Receivers appointed over two Co Wicklow properties have taken legal proceedings claiming the owners of the properties are advertising them for short term rental including on Airbnb and booking.com. Insolvency practitioner Tom Kavanagh was last year appointed receiver by Ennis Property Finance over a property at Waverley Terrace, Bray, the Irish Times reported. It was originally financed with a buy-to-let loan advanced by Bank of Scotland Ireland (BoSI) to Colm Henry, with an address at Rosslea Studio, Adelaide Road, Bray, and to Padraig Henry, with an address at Waverley Terrace.

At least 42 Irish construction companies have gone into liquidation or examinership since the start of this year, prompting a trade body to warn parliamentarians of an insolvency crisis that could hit public projects, Global Construction Review reported. The Construction Industry Federation, and other sources blamed the crisis on the price inflexibility of government contracts colliding with rising costs. Industry figures claim this collision has depressed profit margins to well below the European average.

Signs of overheating have begun to emerge in the Irish economy, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has warned. In its latest economic outlook report, the Paris-based agency said new mortgage loans and loans to small firms – largely driven by construction-related activity – had risen sharply in recent months, the Irish Times reported. While the Central Bank’s lending restrictions, such as the loan-to-value and loan-to-income caps, have reduced the share of risky loans, the OECD said they may need to be extended to cool the current level of credit growth.

The former chairman of Irish Nationwide Building Society (INBS), Michael Walsh, told an inquiry into the lender that an erroneous report in early September 2008 on the company’s financial position triggered a €1 billion run on its deposits, the Irish Times reported. He said a Reuters report on September 5th, 2008, that INBS was in “talks with its lenders to avoid insolvency”, which was subsequently retracted by the news agency, “was completely untrue, but the impact of that was to cause a run on the society” and added to general uncertainty in financial markets at the time.

Barclays has snapped up Lloyds Banking Group’s remaining Irish mortgage portfolio for £4 billion (€4.6 billion) and plans to refinance the loans in the bond market, the Irish Times reported. Sources said that the bank has lined up UK asset manager M&G Investments and US investment giant Pimco to acquire residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) linked to the mortgages. Barclays will also hold onto at least 5 per cent of the notes, in line with securitisation rules brought in following the global financial crisis.

Vulture funds are a “cancer” in Irish society that will trigger thousands of home repossessions, debt campaigner David Hall has warned. “They have one thing on their agenda and that is feasting on the carcasses of those who suffered because of the gambling by banks,” he told the Oireachtas Finance Committee. Mr Hall said that vulture funds had no interest in restructuring loans or working with those in arrears, the Irish Times reported. “They buy to obtain the asset and sell it and profit. If you want to lose your home and possibly have a debt written off then vultures are for you.

Patrick Neary, the former chief executive of the now-defunct Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority (Ifsra), told an inquiry into Irish Nationwide Building Society that the authority’s board was not willing to tackle a series of problems at the company for fear of upsetting its planned sale, the Irish Times reported.