Demand for mortgages ‘not met’

A “major intervention” has been called for to address the mortgage crisis, despite new figures showing increases in approval levels.

According to the Irish Banking Federation (IBF), 1,673 mortgages, to the value of €281m, were approved during September — over 90% of which were for house purchases. The approval figure represented a year-on-year increase of just over 10%; although the rate was down nearly 6% on a monthly basis. The IBF added that the value of mortgage approvals grew by 5.8%, year-on-year, during September, but fell by 5.5% on a month-by-month measure.

However, leading representative body, the Professional Insurance Brokers Association (PIBA) was quick to warn that little has changed for the better, five years on from the start of the financial crisis.