BoI mortgage lending tops €1bn

Bank of Ireland has said the value of its mortgage lending topped the €1bn mark in 2012 and that it is seeing ongoing demand for such products as the new year progresses.

The figure, published by the bank yesterday, is roughly in line with the near €1.4bn value of homeloans it provided during 2011.

While Bank of Ireland doesn’t differentiate between new mortgage lending, top-ups and re-mortgages in its figures, its statement said the overall value represented new mortgage funds drawn down by its customers over the course of last year.

However, it also stated that nearly 90% of the €1bn lending figure, for last year, was drawn down by customers buying their first home or moving to a new house.

The bank said it continues to support customers seeking mortgage finance, adding that this is proven by it providing approximately four in every 10 mortgages during 2012. It said its €2bn fund, launched in October to support first-time buyers and movers to purchase a home during the remainder of last year and throughout this year, has already received over €400m worth of applications. “The volume of applications for the new mortgage fund continues to exceed expectations,” it said.

BoI’s director of consumer banking, Jonathan Byrne, said: “Our mortgage advisers in our branches have seen an increase in the level of enquiries from potential home buyers. Bank of Ireland has a strategic imperative to support customers who are seeking mortgage finance.”

Bank of Ireland’s latest data follows updated numbers from the Irish Banking Federation which earlier this month showed that new mortgage approval levels rose by 25% in November, on a year-on-year basis.

A profile of the typical first-time mortgage buyer, also conducted by Bank of Ireland, has shown that most buy houses in Dublin and the capital’s commuter counties, their average age is 32 and the average mortgage for such a buyer is €153,000.

BoI also found that the average loan-to-value on a first-time buyer mortgage last year was 77%, meaning that the average first-time buyer contributed a deposit of 23%.

This, according to BoI, demonstrates that today’s first-time buyers are very well prepared for their property purchase.