More first-time buyers drew down mortgages in the first quarter of this year than in any corresponding quarter since the Celtic Tiger era in 2007, new data from the banks shows.
Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) has published its mortgage drawdowns report for the first quarter as well as its mortgage approvals report for March.
A total of 9,437 new mortgages to the value of just over €3 billion were drawn down by borrowers during the first quarter, a year-on-year increase of 2.4 per cent in volume and 7.8 per cent in value.
First-time buyers remained the single largest segment by volume (59.6 per cent) and by value (60.6 per cent) with 5,626 drawdowns valued at more than €1.8 billion.
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“These were the strongest first quarter first-time buyer volumes since 2007 and the highest values since 2006,” said BPFI chief executive Brian Hayes.
Re-mortgage or switching volumes and values increased by 3.6 per cent and 16.7 per cent year-on-year respectively.
In contrast, mover purchase activity remained subdued, with volumes down 9.4 per cent year-on-year to 1,768, which was the lowest first-quarter level since 2014.
New properties, including self-builds, accounted for 35.8 per cent of all drawdowns, which was up from 31.7 per cent the previous year. They reached their highest first quarter level since 2008, up 15.1 per cent in volume and 22.3 per cent in value.
“This increase was driven mainly by first-time buyer mortgages on new properties, which rose in volume by 18.3 per cent to 2,252 and by 25.3 per cent in value to more than €792 million, the highest first quarter value since 2007,” Hayes said.
“While the second-hand homes segment accounted for almost two-thirds of drawdowns, its share continued to contract with volumes down 4.2 per cent and values down 0.9 per cent year-on-year.
“This was the first time since the third quarter of 2024 that the value of mortgages on second-hand properties has fallen in year-on-year terms but the fifth consecutive quarter in which volumes have fallen.
“Indeed, drawdown volumes on second-hand properties have fallen in 10 of the past 13 quarters.”
Approvals
In terms of the approval figures for March, a total of 4,482 mortgages were given the green light. Some 2,805 were for first-time buyers (62.6 per cent of total volume), while mover purchasers accounted for 777 (17.3 per cent).
The number of mortgages approved rose by 22.8 per cent month-on-month and fell by 0.9 per cent year-on-year.
Mortgages approved in March were valued at €1.4 billion, of which first-time buyers accounted for €935 million (64.6 per cent), and €295 million by mover purchasers (20.4 per cent).
The value of mortgage approvals rose by 22 per cent month-on-month and by 0.9 per cent year-on-year. Re-mortgage and switching activity fell by 12.9 per cent year-on-year in volume terms and by 7 per cent in value in the same period.
“On an annualised basis, the value of mortgage approvals reached a new high of almost €17 billion in the 12 months ending March,” said Hayes.
“The value of first-time buyer approvals reached €10.6 billion over the same period, the highest level since the series began in 2011 and more than twice the value recorded in the 12 months ending March 2019.
“By contrast, mover purchasers accounted for just 17.3 per cent of approval volumes and 20.4 per cent of values in March, the lowest shares since this series began in 2014.”
