The number of mortgage accounts in arrears for two years or more continued to rise in the first three months of 2015, albeit at a slower pace than seen previously.

New figures from the Central Bank show there was an increase of just 155 accounts in arrears for over 720 during the first quarter, as against an increase of 1,729 account for the same period a year earlier.

The number of accounts in arrears for over a year fell to 55,470 at the end of March, equivalent to 7.3 per cent of the total stock.

Overall, there were 757,175 residential mortgage accounts in Ireland with a value of €104.3 billion at the end of the first quarter. Of these, 104,693 were in arrears.

The data show the total number of mortgage accounts in arrears fell by 5.1 per cent in the period January to March, marking seven consecutive quarters of decline.

The figures indicate that accounts in arrears for 90 days or more also declined for the sixth quarter in succession. According to the data, there were 74,395 accounts in arrears for 90 days for the period January to March, equivalent to 9.8 per cent of all mortgage accounts and a decline of 5.5 per cent as against the final three months of 2014.

Early arrears continued to decline during the first quarter. There was a quarter-on-quarter fall of 4.3 per cent in the number of accounts in arrears of less than 90 days, which stood at 30,298 at the end of March, equivalent to 4 per cent of the total stock.

The Central Bank said some 117, 263 mortgage accounts were classified as having been restructured at the end of March, up 2.3 per cent versus the previous quarter. Of these, 85.1 per cent were deemed to be meeting the terms of their restructuring agreement.

Buy-to-let mortgage accounts in arrears for 90 days or more, fell by 5.9 per cent during the first quarter. At the end of March there were 15,361 buy-to-let accounts in arrears for two years or more, equivalent to 17.5 per cent of all such accounts.