Median mortgage for first-time buyers up €24,000, while median income rises €4,000

Median mortgages values for first-time buyers looking to buy an existing property increased by €24,000 in the year to the end of June 284,000 while loans to the same segment looking to buy a new property increased by €20,000 to €340,000. File photo

The median household income of first-time buyers looking to get a mortgage increased by nearly €5,000 in the year to the end of June as median mortgage values increased by over €20,000, a new report by the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) shows.

According to the organisation's mortgage market profile for the first half of the year, the median household income for first-time buyers looking to buy an existing property stood at €84,000 a year — up from €79,000 during the same period in 2024.

For first-time buyers looking to buy a new property, the median household income stood at €94,000 — up from €90,000. The median household income of mover-purchasers increased by €8,000 to €126,000 during the same period.

In terms of the median mortgage values, loans to first-time buyers looking to buy an existing property increased by €24,000 year-on-year to €284,000 while loans to the same segment looking to buy a new property increased by €20,000 to €340,000.

Mover-purchasers experienced a €34,000 increase in their median mortgage values to €340,000.

According to the BPFI, the median property value during the first half of this year stood at €357,000 for first-time buyers purchasing an existing property, €420,000 for first-time buyers purchasing a new property, and €520,000 for mover-purchasers across all property types.

While mortgage values have increased across all these segments over the last year, median monthly mortgage repayments for first-time buyers rose only slightly, up 1.5% for new properties and 2.4% for existing properties. However, mover-purchasers have seen their monthly repayments increase by 6.3%.

This coincides with steady falls in interest rates from the European Central Bank over the last year.

The ECB has held interest rates steady over the last several meetings with the Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland, and ECB Governing Council member, Gabriel Makhlouf saying the eurozone economy is developing as expected and a compelling shift away from this path would be needed to support another interest rate cut.

"My expectations are that there won't be significant change based on what's happened in the real economy," Mr Makhlouf, told Reuters in an interview. "Actual outcome seems to be pretty consistent with projections. I'm comfortable with where we are right now," he said.

First-time buyer mortgage drawdowns rose by 5.5% between January and June to 11,791 marking the highest volumes for the first half of the year since 2007 while values in this segment increased by 14.4% to over €3.7bn, the highest since 2006.

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Mover purchaser activity also grew, with volumes up by 3.5% year-on-year to 3,947 and values up by 13.3% to almost €1.5bn.

Chief executive of the BPFI, Brian Hayes, said sole borrowers accounted for 31% of first-time mortgages in the 12 months ending June 2025. Sole borrower's share of the market remains low compared to historical levels, with Department of Housing data indicating that they accounted for 45-48% of FTB mortgages between 2005 and 2008.

“Property and loan values for sole borrowers are relatively low compared with joint borrowers, but rising faster. The median FTB mortgage value for joint borrowers, €345,000, was almost €100,000 more than the equivalent value for sole borrowers, €248,000.” 

However, the data shows that the sole borrower median mortgage value jumped by 51.2% between the first half of 2019 and the end of June this year, compared with a 44.6% increase in the joint borrower median.