Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) has today published the latest figures from the BPFI Mortgage Drawdowns Report for Q3 2021 and the BPFI Mortgage Approvals Report for September 2021.

The following are the key figures from the Mortgage Drawdowns Report for Q3 2021. The following are the key elements:

• A total of 11,479 new mortgages to the value of €2,784 million were drawn down by borrowers during the third quarter of 2021
• This represents an increase of 40.9% in volume and 42.3% in value on the corresponding third quarter of 2020. 
• A comparison with the previous quarter (Q2 2021) shows an increase of 19.3% in volume and 24.9% in value.
• First-time buyers (FTBs) remained the single largest segment by volume (52.7%) and by value (52.8%). 
• New properties (including self-builds) accounted for 26.6% of property purchase/build mortgages in Q3 2021, down from 37.6% in Q3 2020.

In addition, BPFI also published today the latest figures from the BPFI Mortgage Approvals Report for September 2021:

• A total of 4,769 mortgages were approved in September 2021 – some 2,639 were for FTBs (55.3%) of total volume) while mover purchasers accounted for 1,167 (24.5%).
• The number of mortgages approved in June rose by 4.3% month-on-month and by 3.2% year-on-year.
• Mortgages approved in September 2021 were valued at €1,205 million – of which FTBs accounted for €668 million (55.4%) and €336 million by mover purchasers (27.9%).
• The value of mortgage approvals rose by 3.9% month-on-month and by 7.5% year-on-year.

Speaking on the publication of the data, Brian Hayes, Chief Executive, BPFI said: “Our latest mortgage drawdowns and approvals data for Q3 2021 is showing continued growth in both mortgage approvals and drawdowns. Almost 54,400 mortgages were approved in the twelve months ending September 2021, valued at almost €13.5 billion, suggesting a strong pipeline for future demand as we move into the last quarter of the year.”

“Switching activity grew strongly in September, with volumes up by 36.6% year on year and almost 7,000 switcher mortgages approved in the twelve months ending September 2021 – the highest annualized level on record.

Mr Hayes continued: “We can still see the impact of Covid restrictions in the types of properties on which mortgages are being drawn down, with new properties (including self-builds) accounting for only 26.6% of property purchase/build mortgages in Q3 2021, down from 37.6% a year earlier.”

“Looking more in-depth we can see the number of mortgage drawdowns on new properties grew 14.4% year on year in Q3 2021. Mortgage drawdowns on second-hand properties however grew much faster at 57.6% by volume and 71.5% by value. The value of FTB and mover purchase mortgages on secondhand properties both reached their highest Q3 levels since 2006. This underlines the severe limitations we have seen on the construction industry during the pandemic which is having a clear impact on supply. With all residential construction now underway again the challenge remains how to satisfy the strong demand for housing, clearly evident in today’s figures, with the continued pressure which has been growing on supply.”

BPFI