The number of new mortgages issued has risen for the first time in six years, according to new figures from the Irish Banking Federation.
Almost 4,000 new home loans were granted by lenders in the months of July, August and September. That is a rise of 10.4% in the number of mortgages issued in the same three month period of 2011 and up 23.5% on the previous quarter.
Indeed, it is the first annual rise in the number of mortgages drawn down since Q3 2006.
The IBF stats also show that the majority of these loans were issued to first-time buyers, suggesting that the government’s mortgage interest relief scheme has had a notable impact on the market.
A total of 3,983 new mortgages to the value of €663 million were issued during the third quarter of 2012, bringing to almost 10,000 (9,838) the total number of new mortgages issued during 2012 to date.
