Hi °C | Lo °C 
LEADING bank AIB said today it would double the value of its mortgage lending this year.
The bank, which includes former building society EBS, said its lending target for 2013 was €2bn, up from €1bn last year.
It said it provided 45pc of all mortgages in Ireland last year with the average first-time buyer borrowing €160,000.
Head of mortgages Jim O’Keeffe said last year AIB exceeded its own targets for mortgage lending, with €1.5bn being approved for new home loans. It said a total of €1.2bn of this was drawn down by customers.
The announcement comes just days after rival Bank of Ireland said it had a €2bn fund in place for mortgage lending.
And earlier this month Permanent TSB said it would increase mortgage lending five-fold this year to €350m.
If all of this is loaned by the three banks it would mean a more than doubling of the value of mortgages being issued this year, compared with 2012.
