Skip to content

News

Mortgage approvals jump by 11pc as values also increase

Mortgage approvals jumped in October, both in terms of volume and value.

Across all types of borrowers, banks approved a total of 4,262 mortgages in October, up 11.4pc month-on-month.

This is a 13.6pc increase in approvals year-on-year, figures from the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland show.

First-time buyers accounted for the lion’s share of activity, with 2,014 mortgage approvals.

The figures also show the value of mortgage approvals rose by 11.4pc year-on-year, and 13pc when compared with the previous month.

Mortgages approved in October 2018 were valued at €929m, of which first-time buyers accounted for €446m.

Meanwhile, the level of re-mortgaging or switching approvals rose on a year-on-year basis by 71pc both in volume and value terms – albeit off a low base.

Commenting on the figures, Felix O’Regan, director of public affairs at the Banking and Payments Federation, said: “All segments of the mortgage market contributed to an overall increase in annualised approval volumes and values in the 12 months to end-October 2018.”

Last month, following a review, the Central Bank said the rules dictating the amount of money people can borrow for a home and the size of deposits needed are to remain unchanged.

Introduced in 2015, the rules are in place to stop banks over-lending and consumers from over-borrowing.

The rules have been credited with slowing down the pace of house price growth.

Article Source: http://tinyurl.com/kbwqb42