Mortgage lending recovers from 21-year low
Friday, 31 October 2008 19:03
Figures from the Central Bank show that the annual rate of growth in mortgage lending in September recovered from its 21-year low in August.
Today's figures show that net monthly residential mortgages rose last month to €736m, up from the figure of €508m in August. The Central Bank says this confirms the fact that, despite tighter lending standards, lending for the buying of homes remains active.
However, this is a huge decrease from the housing boom's peak in 2006, when the average monthly increase in residential mortgages was almost €2 billion.
The Central Bank adds that the annual rate of increase in residential mortgages continued to fall and the 8.5% increase in September was the lowest since September 1986.
Today's figures also reveal that outstanding debts on credit cards reached €3.1 billion in September, but the annual rate of increase declined to 9.3% from the 10.1% level reached in August.
New spending on credit cards continued to exceed payments of credit card debt last month.
