Personal loans for home improvements jump 25% in 2021
Over 43,000 personal loans for home improvements were drawn down last year, up almost 25% on the previous year.
New figures from Banking and Payments Federation Ireland reveal that these loans were worth €462 million.
The average home improvement loan was €9,748 in the final quarter of 2021, down from €10,899 on the fourth quarter of 2020.
In total, the data shows that more than 140,000 personal loans worth €1.4 billion were drawn down last year, up over 12% in volume and 13% in value on 2020.
The average amount borrowed fell to €8,652, the lowest level since the data series began in 2020.
In total during 2021, almost 45,000 car or auto loans were drawn down valued at €488 million.
The volume and value of car loans increased by 5.4% and 7.4% respectively.
The figures show that the average car loan stood at €10,474 in the final three months of 2021, down from €11,135 a year earlier.
Today’s report contains a brand new set of data from BPFI, which it now plans to release on a quarterly basis.
“It provides a comprehensive overview of the numbers and types of personal loans which are being drawn down by consumers,” said Brian Hayes, Chief Executive of BPFI.
Mr Hayes said the data shows that the current loan volumes equate to 2,756 loans drawn down per week, 864 of which are for car or auto loans and 833 of which are for home improvements.
“We plan to publish this data on a quarterly basis and expect to see some interesting trends emerging over time,” he said.
According to Mr Hayes, Covid-19 restrictions had a substantial negative impact on lending activity, especially in the second quarter of 2020.
“But with improving consumer confidence, we expect demand for personal loans to increase in 2022,” he added.
Article Source – Personal loans for home improvements jump 25% in 2021 – RTE – Gill Stedman
