The number of single people, and particularly single females, taking on a mortgage for the first time is growing, and is almost level with joint applications, research released yesterday shows.

While the number of first-time buyers applying for mortgages increased to 61 per cent of all mortgage applications in the first half of this year, individual applicants accounted for 48 per cent of those, up from 37 per cent a year earlier, according to the research by IFG Mortgages. In 2004, first-time buyers accounted for 48 per cent of all mortgage applications.

The number of women applying for mortgages on their own increased to 45 per cent of all single applications, from 38 per cent a year earlier, according to the research, with Galway attracting the most female singletons. Cork has the highest proportion of all single first-time buyers.

"While single applications, particularly from women, have grown dramatically in certain centres outside Dublin, current house prices in the capital are still pricing single buyers out of the market," Shane Connole, head of sales at IFG Mortgages said in a statement accompanying the research. "While salaries tend to be greater in Dublin, our experience indicates that affordability is still a major deterrent for singles in Dublin."

Mr Connole also said the typical profile of joint applicants was changing. Where in the past 95 per cent of joint applications were from married couples, these days an increasing number of siblings and friends are choosing to buy their first property together, he said.