While AIB remains the biggest mortgage lender in the country, Ulster Bank was the big winner when it came to market share in the first six months of the year.
According to an analysis by Davy, Ulster Bank gained five percentage points in market share in the first six months to 19%.
This follows its re-entry into the broker channel and the bank will be targeting a bigger share after its recent announcement of cuts to its variable and three year fixed rate products.
AIB remains the leading mortgage lender with a 34% share of new lending, unchanged on 2015.
The bank introduced a number of cuts to its variable rate offering over an 18 month period, the most recent being in May.
Bank of Ireland is the second-largest lender at 26% share in the first six months, down from 29% for the full year in 2015.
KBC’s share declined by 2 percentage points to 12% in while Permanent TSB’s share remained static at 9%.
Competition in the marketplace, together with a number of new entrants - such as Pepper and the expected arrival in the market of Frank Money - will put further downward pressure on mortgage rates.
Davy's current forecasts assumes a move towards the 3% level over the course of the remainder of the year.
