First-time buyers are continuing to drive mortgage activity in Ireland.
Figures from industry lobby group Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) show a total of 5,467 mortgages were approved in July with FTBs accounting for 3,356 or 61 per cent of the total.
That is almost three times the 1,142 mortgages approved to people moving home, which account for 20.9 per cent of total home loans sanctioned in the month.
The biggest increase year-on-year is in the switching or remortgage end of the market, where activity jumped by 27 per cent, albeit from a far lower level.
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The mortgages approved in July were valued at €1.77 billion of which first-time buyers accounted for €1.1 billion.
“These are the highest first-time buyer volume and value levels since the data series began, with values exceeding €1.1 billion for the first time,” BPFI chief executive Brian Hayes said.
“While the number of mover purchase approvals fell by 7.2 per cent year on year to 1,142, this was the third-highest volume – after July 2024 and July 2023 – since November 2022,” Mr Hayes said.
“It’s worth noting that mortgage approval activity in the first-time buyer and mover purchase segments usually peaks between May and July,” he said.
Three Government-backed schemes – Help to Buy, the First Home Scheme and the local authority home loan scheme – are helping fuel demand in the first-time buyer segment of the market.
“First-time buyer demand remains very strong with the Revenue Commissioners reporting that Help to Buy applications reached almost 26,000 in the first seven months of the year, 47 per cent more than in the same period of 2024,” he said.
“Over the same period, Help to Buy claims exceeded 5,500, up 14 per cent year on year,” Mr Hayes said.
“In annualised terms, first-time buyer activity reached new heights with 32,363 mortgage approvals valued at almost €10.4 billion in the 12 months ending July 2025,” he said.
The total of 5,467 mortgages approved in July was 12 per cent up month on month and 2.9 per cent up on same month last year.
The €1.77 billion value of mortgage approvals was up 13.7 per cent month on month and by 10 per cent year on year.
In value terms, remortgage/switching activity rose by 49.9 per cent in value in the same period.
Separate figures from the Central Statistics Office showed retail sales rose by 0.8 per cent month on month in July as Irish consumers spent more on cars, hardware and cosmetics.
Sales were up 4.2 per cent on an annual basis.
When volatile car sales are removed, the volume of sales were up 0.3 per cent on a monthly basis and by 3.1 per cent year on year.
The figures show that the sectors with the highest monthly volume increases were motor trades, up 9.2 per cent, while sales of hardware, paints and glass were up 3 per cent. Sales of pharmaceuticals, medical and cosmetic articles sales increased by 2.9 per cent.
The largest monthly volume declines were recorded in books, newspapers and stationery, which dropped by 3.2 per cent, while sales of electrical goods were down 1.4 per cent.
The Central Bank and the Economic and Social Research Institute say growth in the domestic economy this year and next will be driven by consumption as workers enjoy a bump in real wages.
