Mortgage approvals reached almost €1.2 billion in February as demand remained robust.
That’s according to Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI)’s Mortgage Approvals Report for February which found that a total of 3,649 mortgages were approved in the month – up 20.3% from January and by 6.7% compared with the same period of last year.
Of the approved mortgages first-time buyers were approved for 2,316 (63.5% of total volume) while mover purchasers accounted for 664 (18.2%).
The value of mortgages also rose.
Mortgages approved in February were valued at €1,187 million – of which first-time buyers accounted for €765 million (64.4%) and mover purchasers for €243 million (20.5%). These figures were up 24.4% month-on-month and by 10.1% compared to February 2025.
This was the highest February value since the data series began in 2011.
Re-mortgage/switching activity fell by 12.3% in volume terms year-on-year and rose by 1.4% in value in the same period.
Commenting on the publication of the latest data, Brian Hayes, Chief Executive, BPFI said: “Looking more broadly at the annualised figures, there were 53,132 mortgage approvals in the 12 months ending February 2026, valued at almost €17 billion (€16,970 million). The value of the annualised first-time buyer approvals also reached record levels, exceeding €10.5 billion during this period.
“Our February data indicates that mortgage demand remains robust, with first-time buyers continuing to drive activity across the market.
“The Revenue Commissioners recently reported 27,899 Help to Buy applications from first-time buyers in 2025, an increase of 15.6% on 2024 while the number of claims increased by 12.1% to 9,575.
“In the first two months of 2026, there has already been 12,379 Help to Buy applications, about 54% higher than in the same period of 2025. With more than 32,000 first-time buyer mortgage approvals in the 12 months ending February 2026, there is a strong pipeline for lending in the months ahead,” said Mr Hayes.
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