There was a 23pc rise in the number of switchers approved by lenders last month when compared with July of last year, according to data from the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI).
Mortgage holders coming to the end of good-value fixed rates are understood to be driving the switching moves.
Lenders approved 407 applicants for a switch or a remortgage in July, 75 more than the same month last year.
First-time buyer approval volumes and values reached their highest levels since the series began in 2014. The value of first-time buyer approvals topped €1bn for the first time.
A total of 3,291 first-time buyers got approval in the month to draw down a mortgage. This is up by 373 on the same month last year.
Not all the approvals will end up as mortgages being drawn down because some people get approval from more than one lender and will often not get to draw down the mortgage as they cannot secure a property to buy.
A total of 5,313 mortgages were approved last month. The 3,291 approvals for first-time buyers represents 62pc of the total volume. Mover purchasers accounted for 1,231, or almost a quarter, of the total.
The number of mortgages approved rose by 18.6pc compared with June and by 12pc compared with the same period last year. Mortgages approved last month were valued at €1.611bn.
The value of mortgage approvals rose by 20pc in July compared with the previous month and by 18.8pc year-on-year.
Remortgage and switching activity rose by 22.6pc in volume terms year-on-year and by 27.3pc in value in the same period.
BPFI chief executive Brian Hayes said the report showed strong growth in mortgage approval activity last month.
He said mover-purchaser activity also grew in the 12 months to July. The rise in the value of mover-purchaser activity to €437m is the highest value since the series began.
Mr Hayes said: “Overall, the report indicates robust mortgage activity, with 49,384 mortgage approvals in the 12 months ending July 2024, of which almost 31,000 (30,550) were FTB mortgages.”
He added that applications to Revenue for the Help to Buy scheme increased by 45pc year on year in the first seven months of this year to almost 24,000.
