Household lending grows for third consecutive year - Central Bank

Lending to households grew for the third consecutive year in 2019 with mortgage lending driving growth, according to statistics from the Central Bank of Ireland.

Although positive on the household front, the figures detail a recent drop off in total bank lending, which actually declined in December by 0.6 per cent, driven by a fall in lending to the private sector which accounts for 79 per cent of banks’ loan books.

In the year to December, private sector lending had fallen by 0.5 per cent.

Household lending, however, grew 2.1 per cent last year, or by €1.9 billion, while loans for house purchases rose 1.9 per cent, or by €1.4 billion.

The Central Bank’s money and banking statistics show that new lending to consumers exceeded repayments by €571 million last year.

Households are increasingly saving excess cash, the figures show, with lodgements of deposits coming in €6.4 billion higher than withdrawals, a growth rate of 6.1 per cent over the year.

Meanwhile, net lending to non financial corporations fell by €1.1 billion in December along, driven by a reduction in loans for terms of between one and five years. However, for 2019 as a whole, net lending in medium term loans rose €1.2 billion.