Number of Irish mortgage approvals up 31 per cent

The BPFI Mortgage Approvals Report reveals that a total of 3,144 mortgages were approved per month, on average, in the three months ending December 2016.

Some 1,492 (47.4 per cent) were for first-time buyers (FTBs) while mover purchasers accounted for 1,029 (32.7 per cent).

The number of mortgages approved rose by 30.7 per cent year-on-year and fell by 6. per cent per cent month-on-month.

The value of mortgages approved per month, on average, in the three months ending December 2016 was €641 million – of which €295 million (46.0 per cent) was accounted for by FTBs and €253 million (39.5 per cent) by mover purchasers.

The value of mortgage approvals rose by 42.4 per cent year-on-year and fell by 5.7 per cent month-on-month.

A total of 34,230 mortgage approvals, valued at €6.7 billion, were reported during 2016, based on the three-month moving average. This represented an overall year-on-year increase of 13 per cent in volume and 20.2 per cent in value.