New figures from Banking and Payments Federation Ireland show that a total of 46,358 mortgages were drawn down in 2025, an increase of 7.7% on the previous year.
These mortgages were valued at almost €14.5 billion - an increase of 15.2% and marking the highest annual drawdown values since 2008.
First-time buyers continue to drive the mortgage market last year, accounting for 60% of the volume and 61% of the value of mortgage drawdowns in 2025.
BPFI noted that new properties (including self-builds) accounted for 41% of the volume and 43% of the value of FTB mortgage drawdowns in 2025, the highest shares since 2009.
But mover purchase mortgages bucked the broader drawdown trend with volumes dropping by 10.7% to 8,782, the lowest level since 2014.
A total of 53,264 mortgages were approved in 2025 valued at more than €16.9 billion, today's figures also reveal.
Today's figures also show that a total of 13,593 mortgages were drawn down in the final three months of last year, an increase of 4.5% year on year.
The drawdowns were worth a combined €4.3 billion - up 9.5% year on year.
Today's figures reveal that the number of movers drawing down loans fell by nearly 11% in the last three months of the year compared to the same time of 2024.
BPFI said that re-mortgage and switching volumes and values increased by 33.9% and 52.1% year on year respectively.
Brian Hayes, the chief executive of BPFI, said that mortgage approval activity also remained strong in 2025 with the value of approvals rising by 10.3% in 2025 to more than €16.9 billion, the highest value since the approvals data series began in 2011.
"The volume of mortgage approvals rose to 53,264, up 3.8% on the same period, the second highest since the data series began," he noted.
Looking ahead at 2026, Mr Hayes said BPFI expects continued strong demand in the housing and mortgage markets.
"Potential mortgage output for 2026 looks positive, evident from the solid growth in mortgage approvals activity," he said.
"In the short term, housing output also looks encouraging for the year ahead. However, a significant increase in the commencement activity in the first half of this year will be required to sustain output beyond 2026, given the fact that commencements of about 16,500 last year were at their lowest levels since 2016 and half the levels observed in 2023," he added.
