"The Northern Irish property market is home to a greater proportion of small deposit mortgage approvals than anywhere else."
Total approvals were 1.25% lower than in January 2018 and down 2.6% compared to last February.
As small deposit lending continues to increase, there was another fall in the proportion of loans approved to borrowers with large deposits of 60% or more.
In February 2018 33.1% of all loans went to this market segment, down on the 33.5% recorded a month ago. This percentage is further back from the 35.9% recorded in December and the 36.5% in October and November.
In February, Northern Ireland saw a greater proportion of loans to first-time buyers and others with small deposits than any other part of the UK, with 35% of loans going to this part of the market.
This was ahead of Yorkshire – where 31.3% of loans were to these buyers and the North West, where this figure was 29.8%.
These three areas, plus the Midlands (26.1%), were the only areas where more than a quarter of loans went to this part of the market.
This month, Northern Ireland was the only area surveyed to have a greater proportion of small deposit borrowers than large ones.
Richard Sexton, director at e.surv, commented: “While the number of approvals fell slightly in February, this came after two stellar months for the UK mortgage market – prompted by a rise in the Bank of England base rate at the end of last year.
“Activity is expected to pick up again in future months as existing homeowners continue to feel the cost of increased mortgage payments in their pockets.
“Attention will also turn to when the next base rate rise takes place, with many experts predicting this for the late spring or early summer. However, with the recent Spring Statement announcing Stamp Duty relief has helped over 60,000 first-time buyers, market conditions are still very favourable right now for those looking to take their first steps.
“Buyers in London and southern areas typically have a much larger amount of equity than those in northern parts of England. These markets are all dominated by large deposit buyers.
“By contrast, the Northern Irish property market is home to a greater proportion of small deposit mortgage approvals than anywhere else. Coupled with the lower purchase price, this is a great place for first-time buyers to get onto the ladder.”
