There was €513m of loans approved for house purchase in January 2017, up an 59% on the year. This is according to the latest Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) data published this morning.
 
The average mortgage approved was up 7.9% on the year to €208,100. The growth of lending has come from volumes. There were 2,465 loans approved in January, up 48% on the year. The rise in lending volumes tallies with the early 2017 trends in residential property market transactions, showing strong growth in excess of 20% on activity in early 2016.
 
On the price side, the average loan approval actually fell slightly on the month to €208,100 from €216,400 in December, albeit still up 7.9% from the €192,800 recorded in January 2016.
 
In January, the average mortgage approval to first-time buyers was €199,100, up 14% on the year. The average LTV amongst first-time buyers in H1 2016 was 78.6%, well below the 90% threshold.
 
According to Davy Stockbrokers, "The bigger picture is that the Help-to-Buy scheme and loosening of the Central Bank’s lending rules has led to expectations for house price inflation being revised upwards. With no restrictions on the availability of 90% loan-to-value mortgages to first-time buyers, the clear trend has been that potential buyers are taking out higher levels of mortgage debt."

Source: www.businessworld.ie