There was a surge in the number of mortgages taken out in Ireland during the final quarter of 2014.

22,119 mortgages were drawn down in 2014 - 7,583 of these came in the final three months.

According to the BPFI/PwC mortgage market profile, the total value of the loans drawn down in 2014 was €3.9bn.

The quarter saw a 49 percent increase on the value of mortgages drawn down in the same period in 2013.

At the height of the 'boom' mortgages worth €10.3bn were drawn down in the final quarter of 2006.

BPFI/PwC

The market was dominated by first-time buyers - they accounted for 53.3 percent of the loans issued in the fourth quarter.

Combined with the mover-purchase segment, these two groups account for 86.2 percent of the mortgages drawn down in the period.

The average loan size was €176,795 in the quarter, up 2.7 percent on same quarter in 2013. The values of mortgages drawn down in 2014 were at their highest level since 2009.

All segments of the mortgage market grew on a year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter basis for the third consecutive quarter.