Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) has published the latest figures from the BPFI Mortgage Approvals Report for July 2021. The following are the key elements:

• A total of 5,033 mortgages were approved in July 2021 – first-time buyers (FTBs) were approved for 2,766 mortgages (55.0% of total volume) while mover purchasers accounted for 1,272 (25.3%).
• The number of mortgages approved fell by 3.3% month-on-month and rose by 48.2% compared with the same period last year.
• Mortgages approved in July 2021 were valued at €1,283 million – of which FTBs accounted for €707 million (55.1%) and mover purchasers for €382 million (29.7%).
• The value of mortgage approvals rose by 0.6% month-on-month and by 58.3% year-on-year.
• On an annualised* basis 53,511 mortgage were approved in the twelve months ending July 2021, valued at €13,177 million.

Speaking on the latest figures, Brian Hayes, Chief Executive, BPFI said: “The latest mortgage approvals for July show continued growth, especially for FTB mortgages. In total almost €1.3 billion in mortgages were approved, the most in any month since BPFI began collecting this data in 2011.”

“Looking at the annualised figures* which allows us to more accurately assess emerging key trends, there were 53,511 mortgage approvals in the twelve months ending July 2021, valued at almost €13.2 billion – again, the highest level since the data series began. The value of approvals more than doubled since the twelve months ending October 2016, driven by growth in lending to FTBs and re-mortgages or switching.”

“These are significant figures and very much signal a robust pipeline for drawdown activity later in the year.”

BPFI