Mortgage approvals for first-time buyers reached their highest level since 2011 in May, according to new figures from the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI).
In total there were 4,928 mortgages approved last month, with an overall value of close to €1.4 billion.
This represents a 26.4% increase on the number of mortgages approved a month earlier, while the value of loan approvals has also risen by 25.1% month-on-month.
The BPFI said home loan approvals for first-time buyers reached their highest levels in more than a decade as mortgages are still more affordable than rents in some cases, even with higher interest rates.
On a yearly basis, the volume of overall mortgage approvals declined by 4% while the value of new mortgages slumped by 8% amid a steep 72% decline in re-mortgaging and switching activity over the previous 12 months.
Bucking the trend, some 3,170 mortgages were approved for first-time buyers in May, up 20% on the same month last year and by 31.2% from April.
BPFI chief executive Brian Hayes said May was the busiest ever for such mortgage approvals in terms of both volume and value.
It meant “the annualised value of FTB approvals surpassed €8 billion for the first time since the data series began in 2011, at €8.06 billion”, Mr Hayes said, representing a “strong pipeline for FTB drawdowns later in the year”.
Mortgages approved in May were valued at €1,396 million – of which FTBs accounted for €926 million (66.3%) and mover purchasers for €333 million (23.9%).
