Irish mortgage lending in 2020 ahead of expectations at â¬8.4bn
Written by Robert McHugh, on 29th Jan 2021. Posted in Ireland
The latest mortgage market statistics published this morning from the Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland (BPFI) shows that first-time buyers led the rebound in the mortgage market in the second half of 2020 and contributed to a much better performance than expected.
While the current lockdown may delay completions somewhat, the surge in mortgage approvals in the fourth quarter points to significant pent-up demand.
Mortgage approvals for house purchase continued to recover strongly in December, with volumes growing by 36% year on year (yoy). With the average loan size growing, this led to a 42% yoy increase in the value of approvals.
Rebound in mortgage lending in final months of 2020
Updated / Friday, 29 Jan 2021
13:54
Business Journalist
The value of mortgage approvals in 2020 exceeded €10 billion, despite a slump in lending in the early months of the pandemic.
This is according to figures for the final quarter of 2020 and the full year from Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland.
A rebound in activity in the final quarter of the year accounted for much of the improvement in performance for the year.
The figures show that a total of 43,151 mortgages were approved in the year to a total value of €10.34 billion.
When it comes to mortgages drawn down, the total for the year was 35,617 with the value exceeding €8.36 billion, representing the lowest level of activity in three years.
The mood of Irish consumers darkened in January due to the spike in Covid cases and the new lockdown imposed on the country.
The consumer sentiment index produced by KBC Bank recorded a bigger fall in the first month of the year than in the US, UK and the rest of the European Union.
Results from the survey suggest the pre-Christmas Brexit deal may have given a limited boost to consumers in January.
Instead, the explosive trajectory of the virus has dominated the mood of consumers.
The KBC Bank Irish consumer sentiment index dropped to 64.9 in January, from 74.6 in December.
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There was an extraordinary jump in contactless payments in December and throughout 2020 - but the banking industry says cash will never fully go away.
Over €1 billion worth of contactless transactions were recorded in Ireland in December, the first time that monthly figure has been reached.
Figures from the Banking & Payments Federation (BPFI) show there were nearly 2.1 million transactions per day in the lead-up to Christmas.
The average value of a payment also increased to €17.36.
Brian Hayes, the Chief Executive of BPFI, told
Newstalk Breakfast last month s figures are part of a trend.
December saw extraordinary jump in contactless payments