First-time buyers drew down more mortgages last year than at any time over the past 18 years since the financial crash, according to figures compiled by the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI). And the value of those mortgages was the highest since 2003 in the midst of the Celtic Tiger.However, the number of existing homeowners drawing down loans fell for the third year in a row. At 8,782, the figure was the lowest since 2014 and down 2.7 per cent on the previous year.The amounts being borrowed by both groups continue to rise alongside increasing property prices. The BPFI says that the average first-time buyer mortgage last year was €319,710. Given mortgage rules put in place by the Central Bank, it means first-time buyers have average income of just under €80,000.The average loan taken by existing homeowners in 2025 was €379,707. Both are the highest since the BPFI started collecting such data.A total of 27,652 first-time buyers acquired homes last year, according to the data, with just 40 per cent of these buying newly-built properties.However, Ali Ugur, the BPFI’s chief economist, said the strongest growth in mortgage drawdowns had been in this market, with the number of first-time mortgages jumping by more than 50 per cent in seven of the 12 regions across the State in the last five years.The BPFI report says that almost all regions have seen strong growth in first-time buyer mortgage activity in recent years, with volumes jumping by 26 per cent in Dublin between 2021 and 2025 and by 30 per cent in Cork.Wicklow was the fastest growing region, with volumes up by 54 per cent while activity in Limerick, the midlands and the southeast all rose by more than a fifth. Only the west has seen a fall in activity with numbers drawing down home loans for the first time dipping 4 per cent since 2021.[ Average cost of Irish mortgage drops to just above euro area averageOpens in new window ]The west has also seen the most dramatic decline in the number of existing homeowners taking out mortgages to move home – down 31 per cent in the five years to last year. But loan volumes for this group fell across all regions with all bar Dublin and Cork experiencing double-digit slides.The median price for a home bought by a first-time buyer jumped by about €100,000, or a third, over the five years to 2025 when it hit €399,000. The value of individual mortgages over that same period was up 34 per cent, or €80,000, to €316,000, BPFI says.“Today’s report shows that first-time buyer activity remains strong, particularly for new homes, but the wider market remains subdued,” said Ugur. “Rising property values, mortgage values and household incomes underline the extent to which affordability continues to shape mortgage activity across the country.”