Over 4,514 mortgages to the value of €1 billion were approved in October
Strongest growth evident with first-time buyers – up 15.6% year on year
Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) has published the latest figures from the BPFI Mortgage Approvals Report for October 2019.*
The following are the key elements:
- A total of 4,514 mortgages were approved in October – some 2,329 (51.6%) were for first-time buyers (FTBs) while mover purchasers accounted for 1,219 (27%).
- The number of mortgages approved rose by 18% month-on-month and by 5.9% year-on-year.
- Mortgages approved in October 2019 were valued at €1,020 million – of which FTBs accounted for €547 million (53.6%) and €308 million (30.2%) by mover purchasers.
- The value of mortgage approvals rose by 22.5% month-on-month and by 9.7% year-on-year.
Re-mortgage/switching approvals rose by 17.1% in volume on the previous month and fell by 1.5% year on year.
Commenting on the figures, Brian Hayes, BPFI Chief Executive, stated:
“Mortgage approvals grew in both volume and value terms in October. This growth continues to be driven by first-time buyers where approvals were up 15.6% on the same period last year. In fact, mortgage approvals for those buying a home for the first time represented over half of the total volume and value. First-time buyers remain a key segment of the market for lenders.”
Annualised mortgage approval activity continues to follow a steady pattern of growth as the graph above shows.
[*] The full time series of monthly data from January 2011 onwards is available on the BPFI website.
Note: Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) represents the banking, payments and fintech sector in Ireland. Together with its affiliates, the Federation of International Banks in Ireland and the Fintech & Payments Association of Ireland, BPFI has 100 member institutions and associates, including licensed domestic and foreign banks and institutions operating in the financial marketplace here.
Contact: For further information contact Jillian Heffernan, Head of Communications, jillian.heffernan@bpfi.ie 087 9016880
