First-time buyers drive mortgage activity as switching levels plummet

The number of re-mortgaging agreements fell by 78% and by 81.5% in value terms during the last 12 months.

The number of mortgage approvals has fallen 20% in past year even as first time loans continue to grow, results of a new survey showed.

The number of mortgage approvals has fallen 20% in past year even as first time loans continue to grow, results of a new survey showed.

The number of mortgage approvals for first-time buyers that have been buying or building their own homes in this period climbed to a record level of 30,508, while the value of those approvals rose to more than €8.7bn, according to the latest Mortgage Approvals Report by the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland, or BPFI.