Private-sector lending growth accelerated in Ireland last month amid robust demand for home loans, according to the Central Bank.
The annual adjusted rate picked up to 16.9 per cent from 14.7 per cent in September, the bank said.
Annual growth in residential mortgages, adjusted for securitisations, rose to 24.8 per cent from a revised 24.7 per cent in September. The central bank said mortgage lending was now expanding at its fastest pace since 2000.
The latest figures are likely to renew concern that homeowners are borrowing too much in an effort to get a foot on the housing ladder.
The influential OECD warned earlier this week that Ireland's booming property market risks a sharp correction if it does not cool down by itself.
Excluding housing finance, demand from other sectors of the economy recovered strongly in October and accounted for about half of the total increase in lending of €2.1 billion.
Lending by credit institutions to non-government Irish residents expanded by 1.4 per cent in October to €155.8 billion.