Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) has today published the latest figures from the BPFI Mortgage Approvals Report for August 2020. The following are the key elements:

• A total of 3,875 mortgages were approved in August 2020 – first-time buyers (FTBs) were approved for 2,259 mortgages (58% of total volume) while mover purchasers accounted for 1,000 (26%). FTB mortgage approvals in August 2020 were higher year on year in volume and value terms compared to the overall year on year decline.
• The number of mortgages approved rose by 14.1% month-on-month and fell by 11.0% compared with the same period last year.
• Mortgages approved in August 2020 were valued at €946 million – of which FTBs accounted for €556 million (59%) and mover purchasers for €267 million (28%).
• The value of mortgage approvals rose by 16.7% month-on-month but fell by 2.3% year-on-year.

Speaking on the publication of the data, Dr. Ali Ugur, Chief Economist, BPFI stated:

“Following on from a strong uplift in mortgage approval activity in July compared to the previous month, this further uplift in August provides a much improved pipeline for mortgage drawdown activity in the months ahead, notwithstanding the fact that overall activity is still down year on year.”

“We know that actual mortgage drawdowns were down by around 18% year-on-year in the first half of 2020 and this comes as no surprise in light of Covid-19.  But, if recent approvals convert into drawdowns as they normally do, we could expect to see a better outcome than originally estimated back in April/May.  It’s also interesting to note that when we compare first-time buyer mortgage approvals in August 2020 to the same period last year, there was a higher number both in terms of value and volume. Given that 58% of all approvals are to FTBs, we could expect to see that important category continue to be the single largest element of the market.”

The BPFI Mortgage Approval Reports August 2020 can be viewed on the BPFI website here.

BPFI Mortgage Approvals Report