Home lending ‘abnormally low’ despite spike in April

The country’s chronic housing shortage is set to persist and push property prices even higher while, at the same time, the Central Bank’s mortgage rules continue to restrict lending to ‘abnormally low’ levels despite a pick-up in April.

New figures released by the Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland show a 35% year-on-year increase in the value of mortgage approvals during the month.

A total of 2,978 approvals worth €573m were recorded with a near 50% rise in first-time buyers which accounted for €317m worth of lending.