Slowdown in mortgage approvals end of 2025
The latest figures from Banking and Payments Federation Ireland indicate a moderate decline in the number of mortgage approvals.
A total of 4,251 mortgages were approved in November 2025, a decrease of 11.1% month-on-month and a 3.4% decline compared with the same period last year.
Out of all mortgage approvals that month, 2,512 or 59% were granted to first time buyers while mover purchasers accounted for 20.3% or 863 approvals.
In the first 11 months of 2025, 49,760 mortgage approvals of a total value of €15.8 billion were issued.
Re-mortgage and switching activity rose by 19.4% in volume terms year-on-year and by 25% in value in the same period.
The CEO of BPFI Brian Hayes noted that "the most notable slowdown was observed in home purchase mortgage approvals, including those for first-time buyers and mover purchasers, which experienced an overall reduction of 6.8% in volume and 3.5% in value year-on-year."
However, looking at the entire period between January and November last year, Mr Hayes added, "first-time-buyer approvals reached their highest activity levels since the data began in 2011 over the same period, with over 30,000 approvals valued at €9.796 billion."
This was more than four times the value of mortgage approvals in the same period of 2015.
"By contrast, mover purchase approval volumes dropped to 9,634 in the first eleven months of 2025, the lowest year-to-date level since 2015," Mr Hayes said.
Another potential reason for the decline of the overall value of mortgage approvals in November 2025, according to Goodbody's chief economist Dermot O’Leary, "may be related to the use of allowances above the mortgage limits set by the banks."
According to a Central Bank review, the Goodbody analyst explained, "8.1% of mortgages issued by banks in the first half of last year were above the 4.0x loan-to-income limit, which is about double the level of the same period in 2024 and 2023."
"It is possible that banks became more cautious about approving mortgages outside the limits towards the end of the year to ensure the limits were not breached," Mr O’Leary said.
The expert added that he expects a pick-up in approvals in early 2026 and a further increase in mortgage lending amid the robust labour market and an expected rise in housing supply.
