Mortgage approvals recovered in April and grew by 14% compared to the same period last year, with the largest increase seen in first-time buyers, new data from the Banking and Payments Federation, Ireland (BPFI) shows.
In total, 4,446 mortgages were approved in April, of which 63.6% were first-time buyers. The number of first-time buyers getting approval rose by 17% compared to last year, to 2,828.
The total value of all those mortgages stood at €1.3bn — an increase of 18.4% compared to April 2023.
The number of those remortgaging or switching increased 30.7% to 370, while mortgage top-up approvals increased 15.2% to 280.
The only area which recorded a decline in approvals was for residential investment lending, which fell from 79 to 70.
In March, mortgage approvals fell by 16.4% year-on-year to 3,779, with significant drop-offs seen across all categories of home-buyer.
Chief executive of the BPFI Brian Hayes said the report showed a “continued rise in mortgage activity, with 49,473 approvals in the 12 months ending April 2024”, an increase of 1.12% compared to the 12 months ending in March.
“Figures signal a particularly positive pipeline for first-time buyer mortgages,” he added.
The increasing number of mortgage approvals come as the European Central Bank is set to meet early next month. An interest cut is widely expected to be announced with president of the ECB Christine Lagarde saying earlier this week there was a “strong likelihood” one will be agreed.
