Irish mortgage market shows strong growth with drawdowns up over 10% in Q1 2025.
Ireland’s mortgage market demonstrated robust growth in the first quarter of 2025, with mortgage drawdowns increasing by 10.3% in volume and 19.1% in value compared to the same period last year.
This is according to the latest quarterly report from Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI).
“The average first-time buyer mortgage on second-hand properties exceeded €300,000 for the first time”
The latest BPFI Mortgage Drawdowns Report reveals that 9,190 new mortgages valued at €2.8bn were drawn down during Q1 2025, with first-time buyers continuing to dominate the market, accounting for 57.8% of volume and 59.1% of value.
Drawdowns at highest levels
“Our latest data shows that mortgage activity remains strong,” said Brian Hayes, CEO of BPFI. “In fact, all mortgage customer segments grew year on year with first-time buyer and mover purchase mortgage drawdown values reaching their highest Q1 levels since 2007 and 2008, respectively.”
The report highlights a significant increase in switching activity, with re-mortgage/switching volumes up by 18.7% and values increasing by 30.6% year-on-year. This accounted for 12.7% of all drawdown volumes, marking the highest share since Q1 2023.
Average mortgage values also hit a milestone, with the typical home mortgage (combining first-time buyers and movers) reaching a record €327,972 in Q1 2025. This increase was primarily driven by rising drawdowns on second-hand properties.
“The average first-time buyer mortgage on second-hand properties exceeded €300,000 for the first time, increasing by 9.7% year on year to €302,018, more than double the average drawdown in Q1 2014,” Hayes explained. “Similarly, the average mover purchase mortgage on second-hand properties increased by 9.6% to a new high of €370,790.”
While the quarter-on-quarter comparison shows decreases of 29.4% in volume and 28.9% in value compared to Q4 2024, this seasonal pattern is typical of the housing market.
The BPFI also published its Mortgage Approvals Report for March 2025, showing continued momentum in the market. A total of 4,492 mortgages were approved in March, up 31.3% month-on-month and 18.9% year-on-year. These approvals were valued at €1,428m, representing increases of 32.5% month-on-month and 29.7% year-on-year.
First-time buyers remained dominant in the approvals category as well, accounting for 60.9% of total volume (2,736 mortgages) and 62.4% of value (€891m).
The twelve months ending March 2025 saw 52,021 mortgage approvals valued at €15,841m. Hayes noted that “the annualised value of home mortgage approvals reached the highest level since the data series began at more than €13.8bn in the same period. First-time buyer approval volumes also reached their highest level since the data series began with 31,759 mortgages valued at almost €9.9bn.”
Re-mortgage/switching approvals also showed strong growth, rising by 77.1% year-on-year in volume and doubling in value with a 100.4% increase in the same period.
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