New mortgage approvals continue to increase

January 9, 2013864 Views

The level of mortgage approvals continues to increase as confirmed by the second monthly report in the new IBF data series which tracks the number of new mortgages approved by mainstream lenders.

Approvals up 25% overall on same period last year
8.6% increase on a monthly basis

The IBF Mortgage Approvals Report shows that a total of 2,010 mortgages were approved by lenders here during November 2012 to the value of €346 million. This represents a volume increase of 25% and a value increase of 23.9% compared with the same month in 2011; it also represents a volume increase of 8.6% on a monthly basis.*

The vast majority (94%) of the 2,010 mortgage approvals was for property purchase, which itself showed a year-on-year increase of 35.4%; the balance of approvals was for re-mortgages and top ups.

Data collection for the IBF Mortgage Approvals Report began in August 2012 covering the period from January 2011 onwards in respect of the market’s main mortgage lenders.

Commenting on the data, IBF’s Director of Public Affairs, Felix O’Regan, stated:

“The second month of data in this new series confirms continued growth in the number of new mortgages approved by mainstream lenders. As the IBF Mortgage Approvals Report is a lead indicator of future mortgage market activity, we expect this trend to be reflected in the mortgage drawdown figures for Q4 2012 when the IBF/PwC Mortgage Market Profile is published next month. This evidence of renewed mortgage market activity is welcome. Approvals data for December and the following months will enable us to establish a clearer picture of the trend.”