Mortgage approvals for October show continued rise in house prices – Pearse Doherty TD
Sinn Féin spokesperson on Finance, Pearse Doherty TD, has warned that the October surge in mortgage approvals, points to a continued spike in house prices.
Today’s figures, published by the Banking and Payments Federation, showed that the average mortgage approval amount for first-time buyers had increased by €10,000 in the past 12 months.
Teachta Doherty said:
“A total of 5,207 mortgages were approved in October, worth more than €1.2 billion in lending.
“Behind the headline figures is a further spike in house prices, reflecting the broken housing policies of this and previous Governments.
“For first time buyers the value of the average mortgage approval has risen from €235,000 to €245,000; an increase of €10,000.
“Overall, the value of the average mortgage approval rose by €15,000 in the past 12 months.
“This reflects a continued rise in house prices which is only being compounded by Government policy.
“In July the Government turbocharged the Help-to-Buy Scheme.
“This is a scheme that disproportionately benefits high-income earners, transfers taxpayers’ money directly into the pockets of developers and increases property prices.
“The Government were warned by the ESRI and others that expanding the Help-to-Buy Scheme would only inflate house prices, hurting the majority of people trying to get on the property ladder.
“Today’s figures bear this out.”