According to the Irish Bankers Federation (IBF), 40,992 new mortgages were issued in the third quarter of 2007.* This represented a 25 per cent drop from the same period a year earlier.

The total value of new mortgages issued in quarter three was €8,984 million. Although this was slightly up on the previous quarter, it was 18 per cent below the volume recorded in the third quarter of 2006.

First-time buyers (FTBs) accounted for 19.1 per cent of all new mortgages issued in quarter three.

The average mortgage taken out by a FTB rose to €248,068 from €231,514 a year earlier.

With the exception of the switching (re-mortgaging) segment, there were fewer new mortgage loans in each market segment in quarter three than in the same period in 2006. Switcher mortgages accounted for 17.4 per cent of all new mortgage lending.

The number of new mortgages taken out in the residential investment letting (RIL) segment of the market fell from 7,530 in the third quarter of 2006 to 5,452. the average mortgage drawn down by RIL borrowers rose from €291,230 a year earlier, to €320,092.

Top-up mortgage represented 29.2 per cent of new home loans in quarter three, while mover-purchasers accounted for a further 21 per cent.

According to estimates in the most recent EBS/DKM Affordability index, by the end of November the average first-time buyer working couple nationally was spending 22.8 per cent of their net income on a 90 per cent mortgage, down from 26.4 per cent at the end of December 2006.

The pace of mortgage growth continued its steady decline in November, falling to 14.2 per cent from 15.1 per cent in October, according to figures from the Central Statistics Office. This was the sixteenth consecutive month in which the annual increase in residential mortgage lending fell.

Outstanding residential mortgages increased by €1.3 billion in November to €138.5 billion.

* This is the most recent period for which such data is available