Banking

Mortgage switching plummets 78% despite crippling interest rates

Drawdown volumes declined by 22 per cent year-on-year in Q3, driven by a significant decline in switching activity

Almost 31,600 new dwellings completed in the 12 months ending September, up from about 27,500 in the year previous. Picture: Getty

Mortgage switching activity plummeted 78 per in the year to Q3, despite interest rates reaching a record high of 4.5 per cent, new data from the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) shows.

According to the BPFI housing market monitor from July - September, while it has been a “strong year so far” for the mortgage market, household market residential property purchases fell 1.9 per cent annually.

Almost 13,500 mortgages were approved in the quarter, ...