- 5,626 FTB drawdowns valued at more than €1.8 billion, the strongest Q1 FTB volumes since 2007 and the highest values since 2006
- Mover purchase drawdown volumes dropped by 9.4% year on year to 1,768, the lowest first-quarter level since 2014
- Home mortgage drawdowns on new properties reached the highest Q1 levels since 2008
- Annualised value of FTB approvals reached €10.6 billion, more than twice the value recorded in the twelve months ending March 201.
Wednesday 29th April 2026 - Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) has today published the latest figures from the BPFI Mortgage Drawdowns Report for Q1 2026 and the BPFI Mortgage Approvals Report for March 2026.
The following are the key figures from the Mortgage Drawdowns Report for Q1 2026:
- A total of 9,437 new mortgages to the value of €3,034 million were drawn down by borrowers during the first quarter of 2026.
- This represents an increase of 2.4% in volume and 7.8% in value on the corresponding first quarter of 2025.
- A comparison with the previous quarter (Q4 2025) shows decreases of 30.6% in volume and 29.8% in value.
- First-time buyers (FTBs) remained the single largest segment by volume (59.6%) and by value (60.6%).
- Re-mortgage/switching volumes and values increased by 3.6% and 16.7% year on year respectively.
In addition, BPFI also published today the latest figures from the BPFI Mortgage Approvals Report for March 2026:
- A total of 4,482 mortgages were approved in March 2026 – some 2,805 were for FTBs (62.6% of total volume), while mover purchasers accounted for 777 (17.3%)
- The number of mortgages approved in March rose by 22.8% month-on-month and fell by 0.9% year-on-year.
- Mortgages approved in March 2026 were valued at €1,448 million – of which FTBs accounted for €935 million (64.6%) and €295 million by mover purchasers (20.4%).
- The value of mortgage approvals rose by 22.0% month-on-month and by 0.9% year-on-year.
- Re-mortgage/switching activity fell by 12.9% year on year in volume terms and by 7.0% in value in the same period.
Speaking on the publication of the reports, Brian Hayes, Chief Executive, BPFI said:
“Our latest mortgage drawdowns data for Q1 2026 points to moderate growth in activity, with volumes up 2.4% to 9,437 and values up 7.8% to over €3.03 billion year-on-year. This was driven primarily by first-time buyers (FTBs), with 5,626 FTB drawdowns valued at more than €1.8 billion. These were the strongest first quarter FTB volumes since 2007 and the highest values since 2006. In contrast, mover purchase activity remained subdued, with volumes down 9.4% year on year to 1,768, the lowest first-quarter level since 2014. As expected, quarterly activity fell across all segments compared with Q4 2025, reflecting seasonal patterns, with Q4 typically the busiest period of the year for drawdowns and Q1 being the quietest.”
Looking more closely at property types, Mr Hayes continued: “New properties, including self-builds, accounted for over a third (35.8%) of home purchase mortgage drawdowns (FTBs and mover purchasers) in Q1 2026, up from 31.7% in Q1 2025. In fact, home mortgage drawdowns on new properties reached the highest Q1 levels since 2008, up 15.1% in volume and 22.3% in value year-on-year. This increase was driven mainly by FTB mortgages on new properties, which rose in volume by 18.3% to 2,252 and by 25.3% in value to more than €792 million, the highest Q1 value since 2007.”
“While the second-hand homes segment accounted for almost two-thirds of home mortgage drawdowns, its share continued to contract with volumes down 4.2% and values down 0.9% year-on-year. This was the first time since Q3 2024 that the value of mortgages on secondhand properties has fallen in year-on-year terms but the fifth consecutive quarter in which volumes have fallen. Indeed, drawdown volumes on secondhand properties have fallen in ten of the past 13 quarters.”
Focusing on the most recent mortgage approvals, Mr Hayes continued: “Approvals activity in March was broadly stable, with volumes edging down slightly year-on-year by 0.9% and values rising 0.9%. On an annualised basis, the value of mortgage approvals reached a new high of almost €17 billion in the twelve months ending March 2026. The value of FTB approvals reached €10.57 billion over the same period, the highest level since the series began in 2011 and more than twice the value recorded in the twelve months ending March 2019. By contrast, mover purchasers accounted for just 17.3% of approval volumes and 20.4% of values in March, the lowest shares since this series began in 2014.”
