Mortgage approvals up in November; BPFI
Nearly 4,200 mortgages were approved in the month of November, according to figures from the Banking and Payments Federation.
It was down around 7.5% on the approval numbers in October, but up 2% on November of 2018.
In value terms, it amounted to €960 million in November.
That measure was also down month-on-month, but up on the year.
There tends to be a slowdown in the mortgage market as the year comes to an end, but the figures point to continued buoyancy.
First time buyers once again accounted for the bulk of the activity.
Just over half of the mortgages were issued to this cohort with movers accounting for just over a quarter of the approvals.
There was a fall off in activity among those remortgaging or switching mortgage providers. Approvals in this cohort were down over 11.5% on November of last year and 3% on October.
“While mortgage approvals for November were down on the previous month, this was expected due to the seasonal effect that we typically see in the latter stages of the year,” Brian Hayes, CEO of the Banking and Payments Federation said.
“Looking at the recent underlying trends, approvals grew both in volume and value terms year-on-year with the First-time buyer segment showing consistent growth and this continues to be a key driver of the market.”
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