Slowdown in mortgage approvals despite ‘strong’ demand for home loans

News Snapshot:

While the volume of approvals remains high, the number of mortgages reaching drawdown has plummeted this year. The number of borrowers approved for home loans in August fell sharply, according to new figures from the Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland (BPFI). Data released on Friday show that the number of mortgages approved fell by 4.5 per cent month-on-month and by 18.2 per cent compared with the same period last year. The figures published by the banking lobby group also indicate that first-time buyers (FTBs) remain the dominant cohort within the mortgage market with the number of approvals for the...