13% Wiped Off Irish Mortgage Lending

New home loan lending in Ireland dropped 13.4% in the year ending June 2008, market figures have revealed.

The latest data falls into line with other key market indicators.

It resonates the dip in new builds, which has reduced greatly since last year.

The Market Profile report from the Irish Banking Federation and PricewaterhouseCooper Mortgage has showed the number of new mortgages, issued during the second quarter of this year, stood at 35,154, and was valued at around €7.6b.

This brought the total worth of overall mortgage lending to €145b.


During the second quarter of 2007 41,151 mortgage loans were borrowed at a value of €8.7b.

There was however a growth in mortgages issued during the first quarter of 2008, but the slight contrast has done nothing to stall the slump.

The IBF/PwC figures have reaffirmed the Central Banks' claim, last week that mortgage growth is continuing to contract.

The share of the market attained by first time buyers is proving resilient, while mortgage switching has continued to strengthen.

However, the report has suggested the market is continuing to adjust to more sustainable levels.

IBF boss Pat Farrell said: "A very healthy 35,154 new mortgages were issued in this second quarter, bringing the total number of mortgages issued in the year to date to over 63,000.

"However, the market continues to adjust to more sustainable levels.

"Current trends can be attributed to a range of factors including consumer expectation of further house price reductions, the uncertain outlook on the economic and interest rate fronts, as well as the increased cost of funding for lenders," added Mr Farrell.

(PR/JM)