Numbers approved for mortgage hit eight-year high

There were more than €1bn worth of mortgages approved in July. It was the first time the value of mortgage approvals topped €1bn since 2011.

A total of 5,129 mortgages were approved in July. More than half of these were for first-time buyers while mover purchasers accounted for 28pc of the approvals.

The number of mortgages approved rose by 21.5pc compared with the same month last year, according to data from the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland.

The value of mortgages approved in July was €1.162bn.

The value of mortgage approvals rose by 12.6pc month-on-month and by 5pc  year-on-year.

Re-mortgage/switching approvals also continued to show growth in volume of 8.9pc on the previous month and of 5pc year on year.

Chief executive of the Banking Federation Brian Hayes said: “The strong growth in approvals for house purchase – both first-time buyers (FTB) and mover purchasers – is particularly notable from the July figures.

“In fact, since our data series began in 2011 this is the first time the monthly value of house purchase approvals has exceeded €1 billion. First-time buyers continue to represent the single largest segment of the market by far, with almost 14,900 approvals valued at almost €3.5 billion in the year to date. These approval figures point to a good pipeline of mortgage drawdown activity.”

Not all approvals will turn into mortgage drawdowns as some of those with the go-ahead to borrow will be outbid with others getting multiple approvals from different lenders.