First-time buyers, many using the Government’s Help to Buy tax rebate scheme, accounted for nearly two-thirds of new mortgages drawn down in the last 12 months.
Figures from banking lobby group Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) show there were 45,774 mortgage drawdowns in the 12 months to the end of September, valued at €14.1 billion.
First-time purchasers were the most active segment of the market, accounting for 59.7 per cent or 27,330 of the total.
This was the highest number of mortgages taken out by first-time buyers since the height of the Celtic Tiger era in 2007 and the second highest since the BPFI data series began in 2003.
RM Block
The BPFI’s latest quarterly data indicates a total of 12,570 new mortgages to the value of nearly €4 billion were drawn down by borrowers during the third quarter of 2025.
This represented an increase of 7.7 per cent in volume and 16.6 per cent in value on the corresponding third quarter of 2024.
BPFI chief executive Brian Hayes said new properties (including self-builds) accounted for 35.8 per cent of home mortgage drawdowns between July and September, up from 31.6 per cent in the same period last year.
Home mortgage drawdown volumes and values on new properties increased year on year by 17.9 per cent and 25.2 per cent, respectively, over the same period, while the value reached more than €1.2 billion, the highest third-quarter value since 2007, he said.
“This was largely driven by an increase in FTB [first-time buyer] mortgages on new properties,” Mr Hayes said, noting mover-purchasers accounted for just 521 new property mortgage drawdowns valued at €193 million in the same period.
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While measures such as the Help to Buy incentive, the shared-equity scheme and local authority-backed home loans are designed to support first-time buyers, several agencies have warned they have the potential to increase price pressures in a supply-constrained market.
Extending the Help to Buy scheme may drive up property prices “as the measure primarily targets demand rather than supply”, the Parliamentary Budget Office said last year.
The recent budget extended the scheme for at least another five years.
Since its inception in 2016, the incentive – which allows people seeking to purchase a new-build home to claim up to €30,000 in the form of a tax rebate – has helped more than 50,000 individuals or couples buy a home.
The latest BPFI figures showed there were 6,342 home mortgage drawdowns on second-hand properties, valued at more than €2.1 billion, in the third quarter.
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In year-on-year terms, drawdown volumes on second-hand properties fell by 2.4 per cent to the lowest July-September level since 2020, while values were 6.2 per cent higher, reflecting higher purchase prices.
Although the number of first-time mortgages on second-hand properties fell by 1.5 per cent year on year to 4,473, the value of those mortgages rose by 7.1 per cent to €1.4 billion, the highest third-quarter level since the data series began.
