The number of mortgages approved in July fell by almost 12% when compared to the previous month, according to new figures from Banking and Payments Federation Ireland.
A total of 5,255 mortgages were approved last month.
While this is down on the previous month, approvals were still up 4.4% on the same month last year.
The figures show that first-time buyers accounted for over 45% of the approvals, while over 20% were mover purchasers.
The value of mortgage approvals fell by 12.7% compared to the previous month and rose by 13.3% year-on-year.
Mortgages approved in July were valued at €1.4 billion – of which FTBs accounted for €660 million or just over 45% and mover purchasers for €343 million or just over 23%.
Non-purchase mortgage activity, which includes switching and top-ups, grew by 95.8% in volume terms year on year to 1,741 and by 147.6% year-on-year to €441 million over the same period.
“Non-purchase mortgage activity, most of which is switching, has increased sharply since May, reflecting both the competition in the market and the fact that mortgage customers continue to shop around for better rates,” said Brian Hayes, Chief Executive of BPFI.
“We welcome the fact that mortgage customers are actively taking steps to minimise the impact of the European Central Bank’s planned interest rate increases, whether they switch to another mortgage lender or renegotiate with their current lender.
“Central Bank data shows that that the value of housing loans renegotiated at interest rates fixed for more than one year jumped to €1.2 billion in the second quarter of thus year from €0.7 billion in the second quarter of 2021,” he added.
Article Source – Mortgage approvals drop, switching activity rises – Gill Steadman – RTE.ie