Figures from the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) have revealed that the average mortgage drawdown value was €284,623 (£244,862), surpassing levels seen during the peak of the market in Q1 2008 by 6.1 per cent.
The average first-time buyer (FTB) mortgage jumped to €270,568 (£232,771) up 11.2 per cent from a year earlier, while the average mover purchase rose by 11 per cent to €315,463 (£271,394) over the same period.
Brian Hayes, chief executive of the BPFI, said: “One of the most notable points from this quarter’s drawdown figures is the new record high which has been set for the average homebuyer mortgage.
“This comes on the back of strong house price inflation and the continuing challenge of supply in the housing market.
“Interestingly, when we look at the types of properties being purchased, we can see that FTBs have come to dominate the market for new/self-builds accounting for 78.2 per cent of the value of home mortgages on new properties in Q3 2022.”
Switching up on back of ECB hikes
Non-purchase mortgage activity, which includes switching and top-ups, grew by 115.8 per cent in volume terms year-on-year to 5,081 and by 175.8 per cent in value terms to €1.3bn (£1.1bn) over the same period.
Hayes said: “Year-on-year, we can see the number as well as the value of non-purchase mortgage drawdowns more than doubled in Q3 2022, reflecting the fact that mortgage customers are seeking out better rates in the wake of the interest rate increases recently announced by the ECB.”
Approvals on the rise in September
The BPFI also published the latest mortgage approval figures for September 2022. A total of 5,350 mortgages valued at €1.5bn (£1.3bn) were approved in September 2022 – 2,460 were for FTBs (46 per cent).
The number of mortgages approved in September rose by 12.2 per cent year-on-year.
Hayes said: “Looking at the pipeline of mortgage activity through our latest approvals figures, approvals continued to grow in September 2022, driven by the high level of switching which is currently underway and likely a response to recent ECB decisions to increase interest rates.”
