Homebuyers race to scoop lending rules exemptions

Markets off to strong start for year after slowdown in 2015

Michael Dowling, a spokesman for the Independent Mortgage Advisers Federation (IMAF)

The mortgage market is off to a strong start this year, as would-be buyers race to secure coveted exemptions from strict lending rules before banks run out of capacity.

There was a slowdown in the market in the last months of 2015 as some lenders ran out of capacity to grant exemptions to tough Central Bank mortgage lending limits. Banks are allowed to breach the rules in a limited number of cases only.