Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) has today published the latest figures from the BPFI Mortgage Approvals Report for July 2022. The following are the key elements:
A total of 5,255 mortgages were approved in July 2022 – first-time buyers (FTBs) were approved for 2,376 mortgages (45.2% of total volume) while mover purchasers accounted for 1,075 (20.5%).
The number of mortgages approved fell by 11.8% month-on-month and rose by 4.4% compared with the same period last year.
Mortgages approved in July 2022 were valued at €1,454 million – of which FTBs accounted for €660 million (45.4%) and mover purchasers for €343 million (23.6%).
The value of mortgage approvals fell by 12.7% month-on-month and by rose by 13.3% year-on-year.
Non-purchase mortgage activity, which includes switching and top-ups, grew by 95.8% in volume terms year on year to 1,741 and by 147.6% year-on-year to €441 million over the same period.
Speaking on the publication of the data, Brian Hayes, Chief Executive, BPFI stated: “Our latest mortgage data is showing continued growth in mortgage activity which is being driven mainly by non-purchase mortgages – primarily those who are re-mortgaging or switching. July 2021 was an exceptionally busy month so it’s no surprise to see a drop in year-on-year terms.”
“Looking at the annualised figures which allows us to more accurately assess emerging key trends, there were there were 55,689 mortgage approvals in the twelve months ending July 2022, valued at €14,753 million. This represented a volume increase of 0.40% and a value increase 1.17% of compared with the twelve months ending June 2022.”
“Non-purchase mortgage activity, most of which is switching, has increased sharply since May, reflecting both the competition in the market and the fact that mortgage customers continue to shop around for better rates. We welcome the fact that mortgage customers are actively taking steps to minimise the impact of the ECB’s planned interest rate increases, whether they switch to another mortgage lender or renegotiate with their current lender. Central Bank data shows that that the value of housing loans renegotiated at interest rates fixed for more than one year jumped to €1.2 billion in Q2 2022 from €0.7 billion in Q2 2021.”
