Value of mortgage approvals tops €530 million in July

Mortgages totalling €532 million were approved last month, according to latest report from the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI), which is the strongest level of mortgage approvals since the series began in 2011.

According to the BPFI, approximately 2,766 mortgages were approved per month in the three months to the end of July 2015 with 2,470 or 89 per cent of the approvals being granted for house purchase.

The value of mortgages approved per month, on average, in the three months ending July was €515 million, of which €479 million (93 per cent) was for house purchase.

The number of mortgages approved rose by 8.3 per cent year-on-year and by 9.5 per cent month-on-month.

The value meanwhile increased by 11.5 per cent year-on-year and by 10.8 per cent month-on-month.

Davy analyst Conall Mac Coille said an interesting feature of today's data is a pick-up in re-mortgaging activity to €42 million in July – stronger than the previous peak of €33 million in June.

Approvals for re-mortgaging in the first seven months of 2015 have equalled €231 million, up sharply from the €104 million recorded in the same period of 2014.

“Overall, today’s release is consistent with our view that new mortgage lending for house purchase will grow from €3.7 billion in 2014 to close to €4.1-4.2 billion in 2015, or by 10-15 per cent,” he added.