The average age of borrowers taking out mortgages has risen steadily in recent years, according to an analysis from Royal London, the assurance company previously known here as Caledonian Life.

From data on its mortgage protection policies for Irish borrowers, it finds the number of borrowers aged between 20 and 29 fell from 19 per cent of the total in 2004 to 4 per cent in 2014.

The largest group is 30 to 39-year-olds; here the percentage fell from 47 per cent in 2004 to 41 per cent in 2014.

In contrast, the percentage of borrowers in older age groups rose steadily. Most significantly, while 26 per cent of its mortgage protection purchasers were in the 40 to 49 age group in 2004, this rose to 35 per cent by 2014. Those aged 50-plus made up just 8 per cent of the total in 2004, but this rose to 20 per cent.

Lenders generally require borrowers to take out mortgage protection policies when taking a mortgage and, while Royal London is only one player in the market, the figures give a clear indication of the increasing age at which people are buying properties.

The data is in an article by Amelia Walshe, a marketing executive with Royal London and in the latest edition of the Financial Broker magazine.

First-time buyers “are now mostly in their 30s rather than their 20s” according to the article, while people also appear increasingly to be “trading up” later in their life, often in their 40s and 50s.