Mortgage approvals fell both on a monthly basis and year-on-year in June, new figures from Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) show, while quarterly loan drawdown figures suggest first-time buyers continue to dominate the market amid a drop in mover-purchaser activity.
The industry body, which has published its mortgage drawdowns report for the second quarter of 2024 and its mortgage approvals report for the month of June, said drawdown volumes for first-time buyers have now reached their highest second-quarter level since 2007.
A total of 10,110 new mortgages with a value of €2.85 billion were drawn down by borrowers during the second quarter of 2024.
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This represents an increase of 2.2 per cent in volume and 3.3 per cent in value on the corresponding second quarter of 2023. It is also up 20 per cent in volume and 21 per cent in value on the first quarter. First-time buyers represent just shy of two-thirds of the market, the figures indicate.
Within the drawdowns total, however, remortgage/switching volumes and values fell by 6.9 per cent and 14.9 per cent year-on-year respectively. This reflects a slowdown in mover-purchaser activity amid a more limited supply of properties in the second-hand market.
Meanwhile, 4,480 mortgages were approved in June. Some 2,740 were for first-time buyers, or 61.2 per cent of the total volume, while mover-purchasers accounted for 980, or 21.9 per cent.
But the number of mortgages approved in June was down 1.7 per cent month-on-month and by 6 per cent year-on-year. They were valued at €1.34 billion, of which first-time buyers accounted for €841 million (62.8 per cent) and mover-purchasers accounted for €354 million (26.4 per cent). The value of mortgages approved also fell, declining 1.8 per cent month-on-month and by 1.1 per cent year-on-year.
Remortgage/switching activity rose by 24.3 per cent year-on-year in volume terms and by 24.4 per cent in value in the same period.
“Our latest mortgage data shows that first-time buyers (FTBs) continue to dominate the market, with FTB drawdown volumes reaching their highest Q2 level since 2007 at 6,300,” said BPFI chief executive Brian Hayes.
“This is despite an overall moderation in activity across the market.”
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