206,000 mortgages are now being taken out in Ireland each year, which is equivalent to 800 a day.
This is a substantially higher number than previously estimated.
The figures come from a new detailed quarterly analysis of the mortgage market by the Irish Bankers Federation and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The research shows that first-time buyers account for over 21% of all residential mortgage funds advanced. A breakdown of loan volumes by category also confirms the existence of an active switching market with 13% of loans used for this purpose.
The report shows that the total value of mortgage loans issued in the six months to the end of June was €18.56 billion with €10.13 billion of new lending in the second quarter of 2006. The value of mortgage lending in the second quarter of the year was 20% more than the previous quarter and 20.6% up on the same time last year.
In the second quarter of 2006, a total of 53,449 mortgage loans were granted. These loans can be split into five groups - first-time buyers (17.6%), mover purchasers (21.7%), purchasers of residential investment properties (13.3%), re-mortgages (13%) and top-up mortgages (34.4%).
The report points out that while forming the largest proportion in terms of numbers, top-up mortgages are the smallest of the loan categories in terms of value.
