45,500 mortgages were approved in the first ten months of this year valued, at €14.6 billion, the latest Banking and Payments Federation Ireland figures show.
BPFI said this marks the highest year-to-date volumes since 2022 and the highest values since the data series began in 2011.
It noted that although first-time buyers approval volumes declined in year-on-year terms in October, the number and value of FTB approvals in the first ten months of the year increased to their highest levels since the data began with 27,612 approvals valued at almost €8.973 billion.
This was more than four times the value of mortgage approvals in the same period of 2015 at €2.224 billion, it added
But mover purchase approval volumes dropped to 8,771 in the first ten months of 2025, the lowest year-to-date level since 2020.
On a monthly basis, mortgage approval values for mover purchasers declined in year-on-year terms for the fourth month in a row, while October this year was the weakest October for mover purchase approval volumes since 2015.
Meanwhile, mortgage switching activity continued to grow with 5,382 switcher approvals valued at €1.570 billion in the first ten months of 2025. This represents an increase of 37.6% in volume and 58.8% in value on the same time of 2024, and the highest year-to-date activity levels since 2022.
Brian Hayes, the chief executive of BPFI, said that while mover purchaser approvals have slowed down, FTB demand activity remain robust.
"Notably, data from the Revenue Commissioners reveals that demand for the Help to Buy scheme continues to be very strong with 31,608 applications in the first ten months of 2025, some 43% more than in the same period of 2024," he added.
BPFI said a total of 4,783 mortgages were approved in October, an increase of 0.5% from September but down 1% on the same time last year.
Mortgages approved in October were valued at €1.545 billion, an increase of 4% on a monthly basis and a rise of 4.2% on an annual basis.
In October, first-time buyers were approved for 2,869 mortgages (60% of total volume) while mover purchasers accounted for 894 (18.7%).
Meanwhile, re-mortgage/switching activity rose by 37.3% in volume terms year-on-year and by 63.2% in value in the same period.
