Irish Economy:  The number of residential mortgage approvals in the nine months to September 2014 on an annualised basis are as low as in 1977.

Data from Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) show that by the end of September 2014, year-to-date mortgage volumes were 40.3% higher than in 2013, with 18,462 approvals, based on a three-month moving average.

Data from the Department of the Environment, Community & Local Government show that in 1977 approvals were at 24,500 which is comparable with the current annualised rate.

In 2006, the peak year of the bubble, approvals were at 114,600 with a value of €32bn compared with 19,300 in 2013 with a value of €3.8bn.

In 2011 mortgage approvals at 12,900 were the lowest since 1970's total of 12,500 when the data series began

The Irish population estimate in April 2014 was 4.6m according to the CSO compared with 3.0m in 1971 and 3.4m in 1979.

There were 2,588 mortgage approvals per month in the three months ending September 2014, of which 2,379 were for house purchase. The number of mortgage approvals rose by 45.9% compared with the three months ending September 2013 (there had been a spike in approvals in Q4 2012 triggered by the end of a mortgage interest tax break, reducing activity in early 2013).

€3.1bn in mortgages were approved in the first nine months of 2014.

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