June 2006 - July 2009 Source: Central Bank

The Central Bank said today that Irish residential mortgage lending outstanding fell by €71 million in July -  - the fourth straight month of decline. The year-on-year increase was down to 1.2 per cent in July, from 1.9 per cent in June.  The underlying stock of Irish private-sector credit (PSC), which excludes write-downs and other valuation changes, fell marginally in July compared with June. However, the headline stock of PSC fell by €3.7 billion in July, reflecting continuing write-downs of loans, increased bad debt provisions and other valuation effects; this followed a corresponding monthly fall of €1.4 billion in June.

The Bank said the stock of household credit outstanding fell during the month by €404 million, mostly as a result of a reduction in consumer credit. Repayments on personal credit cards exceeded new spending during July, as it has done, in all but one month so far in 2009.

Residential mortgages (including securitised mortgages) fell by €71 million in July, the fourth consecutive monthly decline. Mortgage debt outstanding has remained relatively stable since the beginning of 2009, only increasing by €163 million in the year to date, compared with €6.5 billion for the same period in 2008. The annual rate of increase in outstanding residential mortgages declined to 1.2 per cent in July, from 1.9 per cent in June.

The Bank said the increase in loans to households for house purchase has also been weak in the euro area, with an annual increase of only 0.1 per cent in July.

The Central Bank said the underlying stock of PSC, adjusting for write-downs and provisions was relatively unchanged in the year ending July 2009, as repayments in aggregate roughly matched new lending over the year. However the effects of increased write-downs and provisions against bad and doubtful debts, reflecting weaknesses in the broader economy, have led to the headline stock of PSC on credit institutions’ balance sheets contracting by 2.2 per cent over the year to the end of July. This continues the annual decline first recorded in June 2009 of minus 0.7 per cent.

Non-mortgage credit was 0.2 per cent lower at the end of July 2009 compared with July 2008.

June 2006 - July 2009 Source: Central Bank