Dublin borrowers accounted for more than 40% of FTB mortgages in Kildare, Wicklow and Meath in 2023 – latest BPFI mortgage report
- 1 in 4 first-time buyer mortgage borrowers nationally now buying or building outside their own county
- In counties Kildare, Meath, Laois and Wicklow at least half of FTB mortgages are for borrowers from other counties
Friday 14th June 2024 – The latest Mortgage Market Profile Report H2 2023, published today by Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI), shows that Dublin borrowers accounted for more than 40% of all FTB mortgages in Kildare, Wicklow and Meath in 2023 and an even higher share of mortgages for new semi-detached or terraced houses, ranging from 55% in Meath to 60% in Kildare.
This latest report in the series, which looks at the profile of borrowers, their loans and property types on a national and regional basis, shows that on a national level one in four FTB mortgage borrowers are now moving county to buy or build their first home (cross county), increasing from 19% to 24% between 2021 and 2023. However, this trend is most evident in Leinster where at least half of FTBs are cross-county borrowers.
Other key findings from the report show:
- About one in four (23%) home mortgage borrowers in 2023 were buying or building outside their own counties, while 77% were buying or building in their own or home counties.
- A higher proportion of FTBs (24%) than movers (19%) were cross-county borrowers.
- While some 24% of FTBs drew down a mortgage on a home in a different county in 2023, this was up from 19% in 2021. The increasing share of FTBs moving county is most evident in Leinster, where their share of mortgages has increased by at least ten percentage points in nine counties.
- Dublin borrowers accounted for a tenth of FTB mortgages in eleven other counties in 2023, from Cavan in the north to Wexford in the south.
- Limerick borrowers accounted for 13% of FTB mortgages in Clare and Kildare borrowers represented 11% of FTB mortgages in Laois.
- The number of FTB mortgages on existing properties (FTB Existing) in 2023 rose by 0.3% to 16,985, the most since 2005, while the number of FTB mortgages to buy or build new properties (FTB New) increased by 4.2% to 8,606, the most since 2008.
- Kildare, Meath, Laois and Wicklow accounted for about 35% of Help to Buy claims in 2023.
Commenting on today’s report Brian Hayes, Chief Executive, BPFI said: “Our latest Mortgage Market Profile shows a marked trend in the movement of home buyers across county borders with almost one in four first-time buyer mortgage borrowers nationally, buying or building outside their own county. This likely reflects increased competition between buyers in the property market and huge demand from first-time buyers, with this cohort looking further afield and becoming more willing to move county to buy their first home. In addition, more than one in five of the workforce in Ireland is now working from home on a regular basis, according to latest Eurostat figures, giving buyers more flexibility on where to choose a home. The trend is most significant in Leinster and particularly with Dublin borrowers who accounted for a tenth of FTB mortgages in eleven other counties in 2023, from Cavan in the north to Wexford in the south and over 40% of FTB mortgages in Kildare, Wicklow and Meath. Dublin borrowers also accounted for more than a quarter of mover purchase mortgages in the three counties with which Dublin shares a border.”
“Given the impact of Help to Buy and the First Home Scheme in incentivising FTBs to buy or build new properties, it’s also notable that Kildare, Meath, Laois and Wicklow accounted for about 35% of Help to Buy claims in 2023. This reflects the importance of these counties in the supply of new housing for purchase with some 31% of new scheme house completions in 2023, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).”
Regional differences in the mortgage market across the country
The BPFI Mortgage Market Profile Report also provides a wealth of data on the regional breakdown of the mortgage market.
Key regional findings from the report include:
- Dublin remains the largest mortgage market with 31.3% of home purchase mortgages. Outside Dublin, Cork is the largest single market with 11.7% followed by Kildare at 8.3%.
- Dublin had the largest disparity between the share of FTB mortgages secured on new and existing properties. Only 13% of all mortgages in Dublin were for FTBs buying or building new properties while 56% of mortgages in the region were for FTBs on existing properties, up from 50% in H2 2022.
- In Wicklow, the property value of those with a mortgage to move property increased by 7% year-on-year to €560,000 making it the second highest median property value of all regions and customer types in H2 2023 (After movers in Dublin, which had a median property value of €600,000).
- Galway was the only region in which the median property value of all customer segment mortgages rose by more than 10% year-on-year. The median property value for a FTB mortgage on a new property was €417,000, up 19% year on year, the largest increase in all regions and across all customer segments.
- In Limerick, some 60% of mortgages were FTB mortgages on existing property, making it the county with the largest share of home mortgages going to FTBs buying existing property.
- The median income on FTB mortgages for new property in the South East was €78,000, the lowest of all regions, while those buying existing property had a median income of €66,000.
- In the West region, FTB mortgages on existing property had the lowest median loan value of all regions and all customer segments at €180,000.
The BPFI Mortgage Market Profile Report H2 2023 is available on the BPFI website here.
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Note: Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) represents the banking, payments and fintech sector in Ireland. Together with its affiliates, the Federation of International Banks in Ireland, and the Fintech & Payments Association of Ireland, BPFI has over 125 member institutions and associates, including licensed domestic and foreign banks and institutions operating in the financial marketplace here.
Contact: Fiona Murphy, Head of Communications, 087 9740046, fiona.murphy@bpfi.ie or Jillian Heffernan, Director of Communications, 087 9016880, jillian.heffernan@bpfi.ie.
