The latest figures from the Central Bank show that growth in mortgage lending has continued to ease for the second month in a row.
The bank said the rate of growth slowed from 27.6% in July to 27.1% in August.
The figures show that the four interest rate increases since Christmas are starting to have an effect. There are likely to be two more before the end of the year.
However, the Irish level of mortgage borrowing is still much higher than most other European countries.
Economists say that cannot be sustained as rates climb. They predict growth in mortgage lending will continue to slow for the rest of this year and into 2007.
