Mortgage lending down by 19%

NEW MORTGAGE lending fell 19 per cent to €450 million in the first three months of the year, the lowest rate of year-on-year decline since the first quarter of 2007.

According to the latest survey of the mortgage market by the Irish Banking Federation (IBF) and PricewaterhouseCoopers, new lending in the first quarter was down 32 per cent on the previous quarter.

There were 2,630 mortgages issued in the first three months, which is traditionally the quietest period of the year for lending. This compared with 3,259 new mortgages in the first quarter of last year and 3,856 mortgages issued in the final three months of 2011.

The value of new mortgages advanced was 22 per cent lower than for the same three months last year and 29 per cent lower than the final quarter of last year.

First-time buyers and mover-purchasers accounted for 79 per cent of new mortgages issued in the first three months of this year.

“We have consistently pointed to the need for close examination of activity over a series of quarters before calling any sign of recovery in the mortgage market,” said Pat Farrell, chief executive of the IBF.

“In this regard the reduction in quarter-one activity reflecting traditional seasonal factors, while following as it does three successive quarters of growth, cautions against any definitive view on market direction at this juncture.”

Despite the market falling 22 per cent in value on last year, AIB, the biggest holder of Irish mortgages, said it recorded a 10 per cent increase in mortgage draw-downs in the first quarter.

Jim O’Keeffe, head of mortgages at AIB, said it sanctioned the highest monthly level of mortgages in March in 18 months.