First-time buyer mortgage approvals up by 19% in April

First-time buyer mortgage approval volumes increased by 19 per cent in April 2017 compared to the same month last year.

According to figures released by the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI), the 1,819 first-time buyer mortgages approved in April represented a drop of 8.4 per cent on the volume approved in March of this year.

The total value of those first-time buyer mortgage approvals increased by 25.8 per cent on the year to €366 million. The value of the first-time buyer mortgages accounted for half of the total value of approvals in April, which was €685 million.

On the whole, there were 11.6 per cent fewer mortgages approved in April 2017 compared to the previous month; however, the 3,340 mortgages approved in April represented an increase of 11.7 per cent on the previous year.

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‘Mover purchase’

Aside from first-time buyers, the second biggest cohort of lendees were those looking for a “mover purchase”. As with the general trend, the volume of mover purchase mortgage approvals in April dropped by 11.4 per cent on the previous month and increased by 1.9 per cent on the year.

Property purchase accounted for the vast majority of money put towards mortgage approvals. Some €616 million was used for property purchase, with remortgage values rising by 15.2 per cent on the year to €56 million.

The BPFI represents over 70 institutions, including licensed domestic and foreign banks, and institutions operating in the financial marketplace in Ireland.