News

Some very interesting reading about the sharp decline in the Mortgage Ireland Switcher market activity in an RTE article this morning – You can read the full RTE article here.

It’s clear that many existing mortgage holders feel that there is now less value to be had in moving their current mortgage from one provider to another.  I’ve mixed opinions on that – certainly, the fixed rates available in September 2023 are now far less attractive an option than had you gone to switch even this time last year, but there are still some serious savings to be made for some tracker or variable rate mortgage holders.  A mid level loan to value loan on a highly BER rated property could definitely make some savings.

First Time Buyers & Movers

Anyway, the main point that I found interesting was the size of the market for First Time Buyers and also Movers.  The data, supplied by the Banking & Payments Federation of Ireland (BPFI) shows that, in August 2023 alone, there were 2829 First Time Buyer mortgages approved to a combined value of €820,000,000.  That’s an average FTB loan amount of just under €290k.  The Mover Purchase market, which is just people selling up their current home (or not) and moving house, consisted of 1029 approvals to a value of €391,000,000, so an average mover purchase loan amount of just under €380k.  The average loan amounts aren’t as large as I thought they’d be… certainly for the mover market.  The average property price in Ireland is currently c. €310k, on which you can borrow a maximum of 90% of the property value, so a maximum loan amount of €279k on the average priced property, which is a bit less than the average FTB loan amount of €290k.  What does this difference mean?  Do first time buyers have larger deposit amounts than previously thought?  Are loads of people availing of the Help to Buy Scheme & similar?  Or maybe a number of first time buyers are buying for cash?

I don’t know.  It just made me think!

BPFI Data

If you’d like to dive into the figures a bit deeper yourself and give me your insight, the BPFI data is available here

If you are a First Time Buyer or someone who is considering moving house and you’d like to get some advice on what your mortgage options are, please get in touch.  This is something that we do a lot, we are familiar with the market and we also enjoy doing.  Getting the correct mortgage advice really can make a difference.  Call us today on 01-668 6136.