Mortgage approval activity remains close to historically high levels, according to the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI), with more than 53,000 mortgages worth some €13.4 billion approved in the year to November.
The BPFI on Wednesday published the latest figures from its Mortgage Approvals Report for November 2021.
A total of 4,959 mortgages were approved that month, with 2,662 for first time buyers (53.7 per cent) and 1,172 for mover purchasers (23.6 per cent).
Mortgages approved were valued at almost €1.3 billion – of which first time buyers accounted for €690 million (53.8 per cent) and €354 million by mover purchasers (27.6 per cent).
Brian Hayes, chief executive of the BPFI, said: “Our latest mortgage figures show a slowdown in approval volumes on a year-on-year basis but this was the highest approvals values in November since the data series began in 2011.
“Mortgage approval activity remains close to historically high levels. On an annualised basis, more than 53,000 mortgages worth some €13.4 billion were approved in the twelve months ending November 2021.
Looking ahead, the fourth quarter of the year is generally the strongest quarter for mortgage drawdowns
“Looking ahead, the fourth quarter of the year is generally the strongest quarter for mortgage drawdowns and with a strong pipeline of mortgage approvals the outlook is very positive for a strong end to the year.”
The BPFI said the number of mortgages approved in November rose by 8.6 per cent month-on-month and fell by 4.6 per cent year-on-year.
The value of mortgage approvals rose by 7.9 per cent month-on-month and by 0.2 per cent year-on-year.
Annualised mortgage approval activity to end-November 2021 decreased in volume terms by 0.44 per cent compared with the twelve months ending October 2021, and increased in value terms by 0.01 per cent over the same period.
Re-mortgage or mortgage switching activity rose by 20.8 per cent and 25.8 per cent in volume and value terms, respectively, when compared with November 2020. The volume of approved mortgage switches has more than doubled since November 2017 with 7,243 approvals valued at more than €1.8 billion in the twelve months ending November 2021.
