New mortgage lending falls by 30%

The value of new mortgage lending in Ireland fell by 30% in the first three months of 2012 compared with the last quarter of 2011, an Irish banking federation PricewaterhouseCoopers mortgage market found.

Irish house prices have fallen by half since the credit crisis hit in 2008, and fears of further price falls and tight credit conditions have brought the property market to a standstill.

AIB head of mortgages Jim O’Keeffe said that lending at AIB had risen on the same period last year.