More mortgages were approved in the first 10 months of the year than in the same period in each of the past three years, according to industry lobby group Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI).
The value of mortgages approved in the year to date, meanwhile, is the highest since the group began to collect such data in 2011.
Brian Hayes, the chief executive of BPFI, said the figures show there have been “over 45,500 mortgage approvals in the first 10 months of 2025 amounting to almost €14.6 billion”.
This came despite the volume of approvals softening in October, recording a decrease in volume of 1 per cent while the value of mortgages rose by 4.2 per cent year on year.
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BPFI said the number of mortgages approved in October stood at 4,783 after a 0.5 per cent increase on September’s figures.
The value of these mortgages increased to €1.55 billion in October 2025 an increase on €1.48 billion in the same period in 2024.
Of the mortgages approved in October, 2,869 were to first time buyers, accounting for 60 per cent of all approvals in the period.
While first-time buyers made up a significant proportion, people seeking mortgages to move homes fell in October to 894, down from 1,033 in the same period of 2024.
[ Sole borrowers make up nearly two-thirds of apartment mortgagesOpens in new window ]
Mr Hayes noted that approvals for movers have now dropped to their lowest year-to-date level since 2020, at just 8,771 in the first 10 months of the year.
“On a monthly basis, mortgage approval values for mover purchasers declined in year-on-year terms for the fourth month in a row, while October 2025 was the weakest October for mover purchase approval volumes since 2015,” he said.
The overall figure for mortgage approvals has been forced higher by a year-on-year surge in people remortgaging or switching their mortgage, which rose by 37.3 per cent to 622, from just 453 in October 2024.
Top-up mortgage volumes in the month gained 8.7 per cent, which represented a 25 unit gain in the month to October 2025 to reach 313.
Looking purely at purchase mortgage approvals, volume fell by 5.9 per cent and value dropped by 1.3 per cent year on year in October.
“Overall, while mover purchaser approvals have slowed down, [first-time buyer] demand activity remain robust,” Mr Hayes said, noting that demand for the Help to Buy scheme “continues to be very strong with 31,608 applications in the first 10 months of 2025″.
