Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) has today published the latest figures from the BPFI Mortgage Approvals Report for April 2023. The following are the key elements:
- A total of 3,899 mortgages were approved in April 2023 – first-time buyers (FTBs) were approved for 2,417 mortgages (62.3% of total volume) while mover purchasers accounted for 877 (22.5%).
- The number of mortgages approved fell by 13.7% month-on-month and by 9.4% compared with the same period last year.
- Mortgages approved in April were valued at €1,116 million – of which FTBs accounted for €701 million (62.9%) and mover purchasers for €297 million (26.6%).
- The value of mortgage approvals fell by 14.3% month-on-month and by 4.2% year-on-year.
- Re-mortgage/switching activity fell by 63.5% in volume terms year on year and by 64.6% in value in the same period.
Speaking on the publication of the data, Brian Hayes, Chief Executive, BPFI stated: “Our latest mortgage approval figures point to a continued slowdown in the market across almost all customer segments with the exception of FTB approvals which continue to grow, increasing by 5.3% year on year in April to 2,417. FTB mortgage approval values increased to €701 million representing a growth of 10.5% year-on-year in value terms and is the sixth highest monthly approvals value since the data series began in 2011.”
“Consistent with trends seen in recent months, switching activity reduced sharply again in April 2023 and accounted for only 7% of approval volumes, down from the most recent peak of almost 32% in October 2022.”
“Despite the overall slowdown, however, mortgage activity remains at historically high levels with almost €1 billion in approvals for FTBs and mover purchasers in April.”
The BPFI Mortgage Approval Report April 2023 is available here.
