Mortgages to the value of €1.3 billion drawn down in Q4, up 49% year-on-year

Mortgages to the value of €1.3 billion were drawn down during the final quarter of last year, new figures show.

This is up 49 per cent on the value of mortgages drawn down in Q4 of 2013, which was €896 million. In comparison, mortgages to the value of €10.3 billion were drawn down in the fourth quarter of 2006.

The BPFI/PwC mortgage market profile shows that 7,583 mortgages were drawn down in Q4, bringing the 2014 total number of mortgages issued to 22,119. The total value of mortgages drawn down last year amounted to €3.9 billion.

Loan volumes in the fourth quarter of 2014 were up 45.7 per cent year-on-year, 20.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter.

In 2014 first time buyers remained the largest segment of the market in value terms accounting for 49 per cent with mover purchasers accounting for 43 per cent.

Recent figures from the Department of Finance show the level of owner-occupier and buy-to-let mortgage arrears in Ireland continues to decline.

The number of owner-occupier mortgage accounts classified as in arrears of at least one day fell by 2,487 to 89,476 in December.

On the buy-to-let side, the number of accounts that were behind with their payments fell by 1,409 and now stands at 29,953.

The number of private-dwelling accounts in arrears of greater than 90 days or more fell by 1,930 to 62,266 in December.