Irish banks are issuing 25% fewer mortgages than they were this time last year.
But the Irish Bankers Federation has said there is still a strong demand for new home loans.
The Federation has said there are currently about one million mortgages outstanding in Ireland with €142bn owed on these home loans.
Today's figures show that the number of first time buyers getting mortgages is down 61% since its peak at the end of 2005.
The number of people getting a mortgage to move houses has also fallen sharply. It is down 34% in the past year and is down 60% compared with its peak in late 2005.
Almost a third of mortgages are now top-up mortgages, which are used by people to borrow smaller amounts for house extensions and similar projects.
However the number of top-up mortgages issued has been reduced by 25% in the past year.
The figures also show that the average first time house buyer mortgage is now €252,000, the average for a house mover is €282,000, the average investor mortgage is €322,000 and the average new top-up mortgage is €94,000.
Earlier, the Economic and Social Research Institute has insisted that the Irish economy remains resilient and that it will eventually rebound to grow at about 3.75% per year in the medium term.
The institute warned that there is a danger that Irish society could become transfixed by the 'very real economic difficulties' and miss the opportunity to plan for a better future in the next decade.
It insisted that the current downturn in the economy will not inflict any lasting damage to the country's long-term growth potential.
The ESRI makes it clear that it remains upbeat about Ireland's economic prospects despite the current slowdown.
It has conducted its latest two-yearly medium-term review of the economy and taken all issues into account including the downturn in the housing market, the global financial turmoil, the potential recession in the US, and the state of Ireland's public finances.
It says it still believes the Irish economy remains fundamentally sound, and is well placed to bounce back when the global situation improves.
The ESRI says Ireland has become very good at selling services abroad and this is the key reason why it is well placed to recover when the global downturn is over.
It added that Ireland has developed a comparative advantage in the supply of financial services, computer and IT services and other business services and it expects almost 240,000 additional service sector jobs by 2015 provided competitiveness is maintained.
It says these jobs will more than compensate for about 70,000 expected job losses between agriculture, manufacturing, construction and public utilities.
It also says that demand for housing will remain strong with 48,000 new houses per year still required until 2020.
The review warns, however, that although greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced substantially as a result of a new carbon tax, Ireland will still miss its emissions targets by a considerable margin.
It also says that it is important for the Government to move fairly rapidly to introduce some form of congestion charging if good value is to be obtained from the huge investment in infrastructure that is now taking place.
