New figures show the number of mortgages approved in January was down on the previous month and lower than the same period last year.
3,034 home loans were approved last month, of which 59.3% were first-time buyers (FTB), while mover purchasers accounted for 18.6% of the total, which is the lowest level in almost six years.
The overall number of mortgages approved fell by 13.4% month-on-month and by 10.6% compared with January 2025.
The latest Mortgage Approvals Report from Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) also showed that the value of the approved loans was lower.
According to the BPFI, the mortgages approved in January were valued at €954 million, of which FTBs accounted for 60.3%, with mover purchasers representing 22%.
The value of the approvals fell by 14.3% month-on-month and by 6.4% year-on-year.
The data show found that while re-mortgage/switching activity fell by 11.4% in volume terms year-on-year, the value of the loans rose by 5.0% during the same period.
The Chief Executive of BPFI, Brian Hayes, said approval activity declined overall and in most segments in year-on-year terms last month.
He said it was worth noting that "approvals activity tends to be weakest" between December and February.
"However, mover purchase activity continues to decline with 565 mover purchase mortgage approvals in January 2026, the lowest volume since June 2020", he added.
Mr Hayes said there were 52,903 mortgage approvals in the twelve months ending January 2026, valued at almost €16.9 billion.
"This indicates that, despite the recent slowdown, the pipeline for mortgage drawdowns (which reached about 46,000 in 2025) remains strong, reflecting robust mortgage and housing demand."
However, the BPFI CEO said housing supply "remains constrained with market indicators, as well as the slowdown in mover purchase activity, pointing to limited supply of second-hand properties for sale".
Brian Hayes said new housing output "looks encouraging for the year ahead, but we will need to see a marked increase in commencement activity in the first half of this year to sustain output beyond 2026".
"There were only 17,275 housing starts in the twelve months ending January 2026, about half the level in the twelve months ending January 2024", according to Mr Hayes.
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