Mortgage approvals came to nearly €1.8bn last month, the highest level on record, according to Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI).

A total of 5,467 mortgages were approved in July, 61.4% of them for first-time buyers (3,356) and 20.9% for mover-purchasers (1,142).

The number of mortgage approvals rose by 12% from June and 2.9% from July last year.

Of the €1,771m in mortgages authorised, first-time buyers accounted for €1,105m or 62.4%) and mover-purchasers were approved for €435m or 24.5%.

The overall value of mortgages approved in July rose 13.7% from the previous month and 10% year-on-year.

Brian Hayes, chief executive of the BPFI, said the volumes and values approved for first-time buyers were the largest since the records began.

Despite approvals for mover-purchasers declining 7.2% from a year earlier, the 1,142 approvals was the third-highest volume on record after July 2024 and July 2023.

It’s worth noting that mortgage approval activity in the FTB and mover purchase segments usually peaks between May and July," said Hayes.

In annualised terms, first-time buyer activity also reached records for both approvals (32,363) and value (€10.4bn) in the 12 months to the end of July.

"FTB demand remains very strong with the Revenue Commissioners reporting that Help to Buy applications reached almost 26,000 in the first seven months of the year, 47% more than in the same period of 2024," said Hayes.

"Over the same period, Help to Buy claims exceeded 5,500, up 14% year on year.”

Remortgaging and switching activity, meanwhile, rose by more than quarter (+27% to 517) in volume terms year-on-year and by half (+49.9% to €158m) in value in the same period.

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