Remortgaging activity drives mortgage growth in April

Average mortgage value for first-time buyer stands at €333,000 — up 1% annually

Chief executive of the BPFI Brian Hayes. 

An increase in mortgage switching and top-up approval activity in April cushioned the market against a slight fall-off in the number of first-time buyer and mover-purchaser mortgage approvals, new data from the Banking and Payments Federation, Ireland (BFPI) shows.

In April, a total of 4,729 mortgages were approved, an increase of 0.5% from the 4,705 recorded in the same month last year. Of this, first-time buyers were the largest component, accounting for 2,899, a decline of 0.3% year-on-year.

The next largest segment was mover-purchasers, which saw 818 approvals — a decline of 3.2% year-on-year.

However, remortgaging/switching approvals increased by 6% in that time to 616, and top-up mortgage approvals increased by 8.9% to 329.

However, while the increase in the overall number of mortgages approved was marginal, the total value of these mortgages increased by 3% to €1.547bn compared to the same period last year.

Even though the number of first-time buyer mortgage approvals declined, the combined value of those mortgages increased to €966m from €961m last year. This means the average first-time buyer mortgage was valued at just over €333,000 compared to €330,000 last year.

So far, there have been 9,820 first-time buyer mortgage approvals in the first four months of the year, the highest level the BPFI has recorded for that period since the series began in 2011, worth a combined €3.2bn.

The combined value of all mover-purchaser approvals stood at €328m last month — an annual increase of 3.5% — bringing the average mortgage value up to just under €401,000, compared to just over €375,000 in April last year.

The value of remortgaging and switching activity rose by 17% in the same period, to €188m, while the value of top-up mortgages increased by 2.3%, to €51m.

Chief executive of the BPFI Brian Hayes said the April data pointed to “sustained mortgage demand, with first-time buyers continuing to be the main driver of activity”.

“This is reflected in help to-buy-demand, with the Revenue Commission reporting almost 20,000 applications submitted in the first four months of 2026, up 51% on the same period last year. With 32,358 first-time buyer mortgage approvals recorded in the 12 months to April 2026, the pipeline for lending activity remains strong in the months ahead.” 

According to the latest Residential Property Price Index, home prices have increased by 6.5% in the 12 months to March 2026 — easing somewhat from the 6.7% rate seen in February.

The median price as of the end of March was €390,461.

In March 2026, 4,123 dwelling purchases by households were filed with the Revenue Commissioners, at a total value of €1.8bn. These purchases were made up of 3,131 existing dwellings and 992 new dwellings.

Next month, the European Central Bank is due to meet again to decide the future path of interest rates, which will have a significant impact on mortgage rates.

The potential for an interest rate increase next month is becoming increasingly likely as the ongoing war in the Middle East continues to increase energy prices, resulting in higher levels of inflation.

Inflation across the eurozone is running at 3%, well ahead of the ECB’s target rate of 2%. In Ireland, headline inflation is running at 3.7%.