The number of mortgage drawdowns by first-time buyers reached the highest level since 2007 between April and June, according to the latest figures from Banking and Payments Federation Ireland.
Their latest figures show that a total of 10,110 new mortgages to the value of over €2.85 billion were drawn down by borrowers during the second quarter of this year.
This represents an increase of 2.2% in volume and 3.3% in value on the same three month period last year.
When compared to the previous quarter, drawdowns jumped over 20% in volume and 21% in value.
First-time buyers remained the single largest segment by volume at over 62% and by value at nearly 64%.
Re-mortgage and switching volumes and values fell by 6.9% and 14.9% year on year respectively.
"While drawdown volumes in the second quarter grew overall by 2.2% year on year and FTBs grew by 5.5%, mover purchase drawdown volumes fell by 3.1% during the same period," said Brian Hayes, Chief Executive, BPFI.
"This is the seventh consecutive quarter in which mover purchase drawdowns volumes have fallen in year-on-year terms," he added.
Looking at property types, new properties - including self-builds - accounted for over 34% of home purchase mortgage drawdowns in the second quarter, up from just over 30% in the same period last year.
First-time buyer mortgages on new properties increased by over 19% to 2,404 and accounted for over 83% of home mortgage drawdowns on new properties, indicating strong momentum on both new home building and government first-time buyer incentives.
In contrast, drawdown volumes on second-hand properties decreased by 2.6% and the number of FTB mortgages on second-hand properties fell by 1.5%, accounting for 71% of mortgage drawdowns on second-hand properties.
"This may reflect the slowdown in mover purchaser activity and a more limited supply in the second-hand market," said Mr Hayes.
"There were just 14,434 existing housing sales in the first five months of 2024, according to the Central Statistics Office, the lowest year-to-date figures since 2021," he added.
“Looking at our latest approvals figures, approval volumes fell by 6% year on year reflecting decline in both FTB and mover purchase segments.
"It was still the third strongest June for FTB approval volumes since the data began in 2011, pointing to a robust pipeline for FTB drawdowns in the months ahead," Mr Hayes said.
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