First-time buyer and mover purchaser values reached their highest levels on record at €322,050 and €375,495 respectively in February.
That’s according to the latest figures from Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI).
Their latest Mortgage Approvals Report shows that the number of mortgages approved rose by 0.7% month-on-month in February, but were 4.5% lower compared with the same time last year.
The BPFI said a total of 3,420 mortgages were approved in February. First-time buyers were approved for 2,102 mortgages (61.5% of total volume) while values for a mover purchaser accounted for 626 (18.3%).
The latest figures also show that the value of mortgage approvals rose by 5.7% month-on-month and by 6.6% year-on-year.
Mortgages approved in February were valued at €1.078 billion. FTBs accounted for €677m (62.8%) of the total and mover purchasers for €235m (21.8%).
Meanwhile, re-mortgage/switching activity fell by 2.8% in volume terms year-on-year and rose by 15.5% in value in the same time, BPFI said.
Brian Hayes, the chief executive of BPFI, noted that the average FTB and mover purchase values reached their highest levels since the data series began in 2011 at €322,050 and €375,495.
He said this reflected higher housing prices across the country, which increased by 8.1% in the 12 months to January 2025 according to the Central Statistics Office.
"It's clear that housing demand remains strong especially from FTBs, supported by employment and earnings growth, and as evidenced by the 11,731 FTB applications for Help to Buy in the first two months of this year, up from 7,840 in the same period of 2024," the CEO said.
"However, supply constraints continue which means that competition between prospective buyers, both FTB and movers, could intensify in the months ahead," he added.
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