LOANS TO IRISH households decreased at a rate of 3.7 per cent in the year ending October 2012 - remaining unchanged from the rate of decrease recorded for August September.

The newly-released figures from the Central Bank show that lending for house purchase was down 1.9 per cent (falling by €514 million) on an annual basis in October, while lending for consumption and other purposes decreased by 8.6 per cent over the same period.

The Central Bank says that October’s developments were driven by a decline in loans for consumption and other purposes of €331 million, while loans for house purchase decreased by €184 million during the month.

Meanwhile, lending to Irish resident non-financial corporations (NFCs) declined by 4.2 per cent in the year ending October 2012 – the same annual rate of decline as reported in September.

Yesterday, the IBF Mortgage Approvals Report indicated that 1,677 mortgages were approved by lenders in Ireland during the month of October – marking an increase of some 26.9 per cent on the same month in 2011.

Read: Mortgage approvals up 27 per cent overall on last year – IBF