First-time buyers fuel rise in mortgage approvals 

New BPFI data shows that first-time buyers made up more than 62% of total approvals in April, while mover purchasers accounted for 18%

The value of mortgage approvals rose by just over 5% month-on-month and by 13.6% year-on-year. Photo credit should read: Yui Mok/PA Wire

A total of 4,705 mortgages were approved in April this year, marking an almost 5% rise compared to the previous month.

New figures released by the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) found that first-time buyers made up more than 62% of total approvals, while mover purchasers accounted for 18%.

On an annual basis, the number of mortgage approvals rose by almost 6% compared with April last year.

Mortgages approved last month were valued at just over €1.5bn, of which first-time buyers accounted for 64% and mover purchasers for 21%.

The value of mortgage approvals rose by just over 5% month-on-month and by 13.6% year-on-year. Meanwhile, re-mortgage/switching activity rose by 53.5% in volume terms year-on-year and rose by 74.8% in value in the same period.

Commenting on the publication of the latest data, Brian Hayes, Chief Executive, BPFI said: “The latest mortgage figures show continued growth in approvals in April 2025, with volumes up by 5.8% year on year and values up 13.6% over the same period. 

"There were 2,922 first-time buyer approvals valued at almost €1bn in April, the highest April levels since the data series began in 2011.

"While the volume of mover purchase approvals fell by 5.9%, the value of those approvals rose by 0.7% to €317m, the highest April level since the data series began.” 

“In annualised terms, 31,853 first-time buyer mortgages valued at almost €10bn were approved in the twelve months ending April 2025, the highest activity levels since the data series began."

The value of mover purchase approvals also reached a new high at almost €4bn over the same period, BPFI figures found.

“We can see from today’s figures that lenders are supporting more and more first-time buyers, which points to a healthy pipeline for lending in the coming months," Mr Hayes added. 

However, first-time buyer housing demand is also growing, as evidenced by the 14,554 applications for Help to Buy in the first three months of 2025. This is up from 9,991 in the same period of 2024.”