THE MORTGAGE market in Ireland continues to weaken with the volume of new lending in the final quarter of last year, falling 22.5 per cent on the previous quarter and 43.5 per cent on the same period in 2009.
The market profile published by the Irish Bankers Federation (IBF) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) revealed just 5,624 new mortgages worth €982 million were issued in the final three months of last year. All told last year, 28,000 mortgages were issued at a value of over €4.75 billion. The mortgage lending market has fallen over 90 per cent since the last quarter of 2005.
The survey shows that over three-quarters of all mortgage credit released last year went to the home-purchasing segments of the market, a reflection of the difficulties in the buy-to-let market.
Financial institutions told the IBF and PwC that borrowers were presenting mortgage applications with a higher level of savings at their disposal to meet the deposit required and were adopting a more “measured approach” in drawing down approved loans.
IBF chief executive Pat Farrell said that in a “very challenging economic background, it can come as little surprise that mortgage market activity remains weak”.
Rachel Doyle, director of PIBA Mortgage Services, accused the State’s banks of “imposing very unrealistic criteria as a form of refusal” and said first-time buyers were struggling to get approval.
“We know there is a demand in the market from first-time buyers in particular. However, they, along with self-employed people, are the two groups who are having greatest difficulty in securing loans at a time when affordability is at an all-time low,” she said.
