There has been an increase in the number of first-time buyers being approved for mortgages despite a sharp slowdown in the wider home loan market.
That’s according to the latest figures from Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) which shows that there were 4,747 new home purchase loans given the go ahead in July.
This was down 9.7% on the same month last year and 0.4% on June but despite the overall decline there has been a 22% increase in the number of first-time buyers granted mortgage approvals compared with the same period of last year.
First-time buyers accounted for 61.5% of mortgage approvals in July with mover-purchasers making up the other 24.2%.
"Our latest mortgage approval figures show that, despite a wider market slowdown, first-time buyer activity remains strong," said Ali Ugur, Chief Economist of the BPFI.
"Volumes and values rose by 22.8% and 26.7%, respectively, year-on-year in July 2023, the fifth successive month in which FTB mortgage approvals have risen in year-on-year terms.
"This sustained growth meant that almost 30,000 FTB mortgages (29,754) valued at nearly €8.4 billion (€8,365 million) were approved in the 12 months ending July 2023, the highest annualised levels since the data series began.
“In addition to the more than 22,000 Help to Buy applications reported by the Revenue Commissioners up to the end of July, these approval figures demonstrate that the pipeline for FTB mortgage drawdowns remains very strong.”
The BPFI said the collapse in the number of switchers had dragged the overall mortgage approval figures down.
Remortgaging or switching activity fell by 78.6% year-on-year and by 80% in value in the same period.
Mortgages approved in July were valued at €1.35bn. First-time buyers accounted for €837m of this, with mover-purchasers accounting for €391m.
The value of mortgage approvals remained the same month-on-month but fell by 6.7% over a year.
The average first-time buyer was approved for a mortgage of €287,000 in July, up €10,000 on the average for the same month last year.
Overall, there were 55,246 mortgage approvals in the year to July, valued at €15.4bn.
