Value of mortgages up 4.2% annually despite drop in approvals 

Banking and Payments Federation said first-time buyer mortgage approvals remain robust despite a slowdown in mover purchase activity

First-time buyers made up 60% of mortgage approvals in October, according to the latest BPFI data. Picture: iStock

Some 4,783 mortgages were approved in October, new figures from the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) has found, with first-time buyers making up 60% of approvals.

In the first ten month of this year, some 45,509 mortgages have been approved, with the total value coming in at €14.5bn.

Overall, mortgage approvals rose by 0.5% in the month, but were down by 1% on an annual basis. Total approvals last month were valued at €1.55bn, of which first-time buyers accounted for €936m.

Despite the annual drop in the number of approvals, the value of total approvals was up by 4.2% compared to October 2024, and were up by 4% on a monthly basis. 

Re-mortgage and switching activity rose significantly in the year, increasing by more than 37% in volume terms by over 63% in value in the same period.

So far in 2025, switcher approvals are up almost 38% by volume annually. In value terms, switcher approvals have grown by almost 60%, marking the highest year-to-date activity levels since 2022.

Meanwhile, Residential investment letting (RIL) mortgage approval volumes increased by almost 15% year-on-year to 85. The value of these mortgages also rose significantly, increasing by almost 35% to €20m.

"Our latest report reveals that there were over 45,500 mortgage approvals in the first ten months of 2025 amounting to almost €14.6bn," said chief executive of the BPFI, Brian Hayes. 

"This marks the highest year-to-date volumes since 2022 and the highest values since the data series began in 2011."

Although first-time buyer approval volumes declined in year-on-year terms in October, the number and value of first-time approvals in the ten months to October increased to their highest levels since the data began with almost 28,000 approvals valued at almost €9bn."

Mr Hayes says this was more than four times the value of mortgage approvals in the same period of 2015.

He also noted that mover purchase approval volumes dropped to 8,771 in the first ten months of 2025, marking the lowest year-to-date level since 2020. 

On a monthly basis, mortgage approval values for mover purchasers declined in year-on-year terms for the fourth month in a row, while October 2025 was the weakest October for mover purchase approval volumes since 2015.

“Overall, while mover purchaser approvals have slowed down, first-time buyer demand activity remain robust," the CEO said.

"Notably, data from the Revenue Commissioners reveals that demand for the Help to Buy scheme continues to be very strong with 31,608 applications in the first ten months of 2025, some 43% more than in the same period of 2024.”

Recent data from the BPFI released last week also shows that 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, with the overall median mortgage value increasing by over €20,000.

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 a year ago, while the median income for first-time buyers buying a new-build was €94,000, up from 90,000 in 2024.