First-time buyers drew down €1.9 billion in home loans between July and September, the highest third-quarter amount since the Celtic Tiger era, according to the latest figures from the Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland (BPFI).
New figures published on Friday show that overall, borrowers drew down 11,614 new mortgages over the three-month period to a value of more than €3.1 billion.
While this represents an annual decline of 21.8% in both volume and value terms, the drop-off is largely down to a sharp decline in remortgaging and switching activity from last year when borrowers piled into fixed interest rate loans to get ahead of rising central bank interest rates.
In total there was an 81% drop in mortgage switching volumes and a 79% drop in remortgage volumes.
Meanwhile, first-time buyers accounted for over 60% of all mortgages drawn down in the third quarter.
The latest data shows that first-time buyer volumes and values are at their highest levels since 2007 and 2006 respectively, on a year to date basis.
"About 470 FTB mortgages valued at €131 million have been drawn down per week in the first nine months of 2023 – that's 18,324 FTB mortgages valued at €5.1 billion," said Brian Hayes, Chief Executive of BPFI.
Mr Hayes said this dominance is demonstrated when we look at the share of FTBs buying new and secondhand homes.
"FTBs accounted for almost 80% of home mortgage drawdowns on new properties and 69% of home mortgage drawdowns on secondhand properties in the third quarter of 2023," Mr Hayes said.
"It is also interesting to see that, notwithstanding the significant government incentives introduced for FTBs buying new properties, their appetite for secondhand homes remains strong.
"The quarterly value of FTB drawdowns on secondhand properties exceeded €1.3 billion for the first time since the data series began in 2005, while the number of FTB mortgages on secondhand properties was the second highest since 2005 at 4,916," he added.
When compared to the previous quarter, overall drawdowns were up over 17% in volume terms, and almost 15% in value.
There were a total of 4,161 mortgages approved in September with over 60% to first-time buyers and mover purchasers accounting for over 22%.
The number of mortgages approved in September fell over 22% on the same time last year, and by over 8% on the previous month.
Mortgages approved in September were valued at over €1.1 billion – of which FTBs accounted for over 62% and mover purchasers for 26%.
"Looking at our latest approvals figures, which we also published today, we can see that although the monthly volume of mortgage approvals likely peaked during the summer months, the pipeline continues to strengthen with 30,184 FTB mortgage approved in the 12 months ending September 2023," Mr Hayes said.
"This was a new high and establishes a solid foundation for a strong end to the year," he added.
