New figures show the number of mortgages approved in February was up on the previous month and up on the same period last year, according to Banking & Payments Federation Ireland.
The overall number of mortgages approved increased by 20.3% month-on-month and by 6.7% compared with February 2025.
The BPFI said 3,649 home loans were approved last month, of which 63.5% were first-time buyers (FTBs), while mover purchasers accounted for 18.2% of the total.
The latest Mortgage Approvals Report also showed that the value of the approved loans increased.
According to the BPFI, the mortgages approved in January were valued at just under €1.2 billion, of which FTBs accounted for 64.4%, with mover purchasers representing 20.5%.
The value of the approvals jumped by 24.4% month-on-month and by 10.1% year-on-year.
The data also showed that while re-mortgage/switching activity fell by 12.3% in volume terms year-on-year, the value of the loans rose by 1.4% during the same period.
Looking more broadly at the annualised figures, the Chief Executive of BPFI, Brian Hayes, said there were 53,132 mortgage approvals in the twelve months to the end of February 2026.
He said the home loans were valued at €16.9 billion.
Mr Hayes said the BPFI's data for February "indicates that mortgage demand remains robust".
He said FTBs are continuing to drive activity across the market.
"The Revenue Commissioners recently reported 27,899 Help to Buy applications from FTBs in 2025, an increase of 15.6% on 2024 while the number of claims increased by 12.1% to 9,575."
"In the first two months of 2026, there has already been 12,379 Help to Buy applications, about 54% higher than in the same period of 2025", he added.
And with more than 32,000 FTB mortgage approvals in the twelve months to the end of February, Brian Hayes said there is "a strong pipeline for lending in the months ahead".
