There has been a significant jump in the number of people borrowing money to buy cars and make home improvements, according to latest figures from the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI).
It said that during the third quarter of last year more than 17,000 car loans were drawn down - nearly 14% higher than the same period in 2023 - while the value of those loans rose by more than a fifth to €229m.
The average car loan for the period (July-September 2024) was €13,434, which was up by €835 year on year.
The BPFI said this likely reflects the continued shift towards electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
Borrowing for home improvements also saw a surge, with a 12.3% increase to 16,194 loans valued at €204m.
The average home-improvement loan during Q3 of 2024 was €12,606.
The BPFI figures come from its members, which include the so-called pillar banks - AIB, Bank of Ireland, and PTSB.
They indicate that personal loan values across all categories reaches record levels in the period, reaching €670m.
Meanwhile, the average green loan reached its highest point to date at just over €24,000.
BPFI's chief executive Brian Hayes said it is encouraging to see positive momentum in green personal loans.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
"These loans comprise green car and green home improvement loans. While the SEAI has reported that 54,000 retrofits were completed to a total value of €420m in 2024, of which 22,000 were for upgrades to B2, the rollout of the Home Energy Upgrade Loan Scheme by Government last year, could support further growth in the market going forward," he added.
Speaking on Morning Ireland, Brian Hayes said he thinks the lending environment is improving for banks and non-bank lenders in Ireland - which is good for overall investment levels in the economy.
"In any environment where interest rates are falling, incomes are up by 22% in the last four years, the level of household debt in Ireland has gone down by 50% in the last 15 years, and the level of household savings has gone from €91 billion to €160 billion over that period, there's a lot of confidence there," he said.
The BPFI CEO said the home energy upgrade loan scheme, which the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland and the European Investment Bank has produced, effectively gives a guarantee to its member banks for loans of up to €75,000.
That helps to reduce the cost of the loan and really ramp up the number of people who can therefore get the retrofit," he said.
"It's a really good example of public private partnership working and given, the scale of the ambition that the Government have and we all have in terms of net zero by 2050, and reducing emissions by 2030 by more than 50%, we all have to do our job here and the banks are very committed to do that and doing that," he added.
