The value of mortgages approved in October was almost €1.5bn, an increase of 23% year-on-year driven by a sharp rise in switching activity, Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) has said.
Non-purchase mortgage activity, which includes switching and top-ups, grew by 124.4% in volume terms to 1,910 and by 164.2% to €497m over the same period.
“Our latest mortgage data is showing continued growth in mortgage activity driven solely by a sharp increase in non-purchase mortgages, mainly switching," said Brian Hayes, CEO of BPFI.
"For the first time since 2011, non-purchase mortgages accounted for more than one third of both the volume (35.7%) and the value (34%) of monthly approvals with the volume of those non-purchase mortgages increasing to their second highest level since the data series began (after June 2022).
"It is clear that customers are actively managing their mortgages by seeking out new deals to minimise the impact of ECB interest rate decisions and this is further evidenced by separate data from the Central Bank of Ireland which shows that the value of mortgages renegotiated on fixed-rate terms more than trebled between Q3 2021 and Q3 2022 to €1.7bn.”
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A total of 5,349 mortgages were approved last month, with first-time buyers accounting for 44.2% (2,363) and mover-purchases making up 18.7% (1,001). There was no change in the number of mortgages approved, although volumes rose 17.1% year-on-year.
Mortgages approved in October were valued at €1.46bn, of which first-time buyers accounted for 43.3% (€633m) and mover-purchasers 21.9% (€320m). Despite the annual significant increase, the value of mortgage approvals fell 0.7% month-on-month.
Hayes said the volume of approvals for first-time buyers was the lowest for October since 2019.
"Looking at the annualised figures, which allows us to more accurately assess emerging key trends, both FTB and mover purchase approval volumes in the twelve months ending October 2022 were the lowest since the twelve months ending May 2021, with activity returning to pre-Covid levels," said Hayes.
"However, in value terms, FTB approvals remained close to the peak of €7.7bn (August 2022), reflecting the sharp increase in housing prices since 2021.”
(Pic: Getty Images)
