Figures from the main banks show that mortgage activity grew strongly in July compared with the same month last year, as approval levels for first-time buyers (FTBs) hit their highest levels since the figures started being published in 2014.

Banking Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) said that banks approved 5,313 mortgages during the month, with first-time buyers (FTBs) accounting for almost 62% of the total.

The number of mortgages approved was up by 18.6% from June, and by 11.9% compared with the same period last year.

Value of mortgages

Mortgages approved in July were worth just over €1.6 billion, with just under 63% of this amount linked to FTBs.

The value of mortgage approvals rose by 20.2% month-on-month and by 18.8% year-on-year.

Brian Hayes (BPFI chief executive) said that FTB approval volumes and values reached their highest levels since the series began in 2014, with values topping €1 billion for the first time in a one-month period.

‘Positive pipeline’

“With almost 3,300 FTB mortgages approved in July, this means that about 106 FTB mortgages were approved per day during the month,” Hayes stated.

He added that mover-purchaser activity had also recorded strong annual increases, with volume and value figures rising by 7.2% and 11.8%, respectively.

Hayes said that the figures signalled a “positive pipeline” for FTB mortgage drawdowns in the coming months, adding that applications to Revenue for the Help to Buy scheme increased by 45% year-on-year in the first seven months of 2024, to almost 24,000.