The number of new mortgages approved in October was up 8.6% on the previous month, according to the latest figures from Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI).
In total 4,829 new mortgages were given the go ahead in October, up 13% compared to the same month last year.
The BPFI said almost two-thirds of these mortgages were secured by first-time buyers.
"In fact, first-time buyer mortgage approvals have reached their highest year-to-date levels on record for both volumes and values in October 2024," said Brian Hayes, BPFI's chief executive.
"Volumes rose to almost 27,000 during the first ten months of the year, while the value of FTB approvals exceeded €8.1 billion, more than double the level in the same period of 2017."
Mover purchasers accounted for around 21% of mortgages in October, the BPFI said.
"While mover purchasers account for a smaller share of approval activity with a quarter (24.8%) of the value of mortgages approved in October, they reached their highest year-to-date values since the data series began in 2011, rising to €3.3 billion," Mr Hayes said.
The total value of mortgages approved in the month was €1.48 billion.
That represented an 11.6% rise month on month and a 22.1% increase year on year.
Of that €930m was for first-time buyer loans and €368m for mover purchasers.
"We are also observing an upward trajectory in switching activity which grew in volume by 22.4% year on year in October," said Mr Hayes.
"Switching volumes increased to their highest monthly level since January 2023 with 453 mortgages approved valued at €123m," he added.
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