DAVY VIEW

This morning’s Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) mortgage approvals are the latest data point suggesting momentum returning to the Irish housing market in Q2 after a quiet start to 2019. Approvals were €931m in April, up 11% on 2019, or by 10% in volume terms, and follow March’s 20% annual growth. We already know that residential transactions bounced back in April and housing market sentiment has improved post the March 29th deadline. The data also point to sedate house price inflation, with the average approval up only 1.4% to €236,200.