Mortgage approvals were almost 27 per cent higher in October than in the same month last year, according to Irish Banking Federation figures.
Surveyed lenders approved a total of 1,677 mortgages in October, up by 26.9 per cent on October 2011 and 10.3 per cent higher than the previous month, the IBF Mortgage Approvals report found.
Of that figure, some 1,565 of the approvals were for house purchases, a 37.3 per cent rise on October 2011, and 112 were re-mortgages or mortgage top-ups, down 38.5 per cent on the same period last year.
The IBF deems a mortgage approval a “firm offer” to a customer of a credit facility secured on a specific residential property, but the sum is not necessarily drawn down.
Approvals from AIB group, Bank of Ireland Mortgage Bank, EBS, Haven Mortgages, ICS Building Society, Ulster Bank, Permanent TSB, KBC Ireland and Danske Bank are included in the figures. The total of mortgages approved last month was €283 million, of which €273 million (96 per cent) was for house buying.
The value of mortgages for house purchase was 33.2 per cent higher in October than in the same month last year. The average value of an approved mortgage for house purchase fell by 3 per cent year on year to €174,677, the report states.
IBF spokesman Felix O’Regan said the availability of mortgage interest relief was a contributory factor and that it remained to be seen what effect the abolition of the relief at the end of the year would have.
Figures published by the IBF earlier this month showed a year-on-year increase in the number of new mortgages actually drawn down for the first time since 2006.
Separately, a survey of 850 people on bank deposits found that 82 per cent would consider moving their savings to another institution. The survey, by Millward Browne/Lansdowne on behalf of IrishDeposits.ie, found that Bank of Ireland (20 per cent) and An Post (18 per cent) were the most likely places to which people would relocate their savings. Just 1 per cent selected EBS and 5 per cent credit unions.
The survey, of people aged over 25, found three out of 10 persons do not think the euro will survive the next five to 10 years, with 35-49 year olds most sceptical. Some 22 per cent of Irish deposit holders said they would consider changing savings into another currency, with men twice as likely as women to consider a switch.
Some 74 per cent said they would not buy government bonds, guaranteed investment bonds, tracker bonds, property or equity funds in the next five years.
