Further evidence of the deterioration in the Irish housing market has been revealed today with the publication of the latest monthly statistics from the Central Bank.

The figures show that demand for residential mortgages remained weak. The annual increase of 12.3% was well below last year's level. Also, the monthly increase of just €712 million was the lowest in five years, and brought the average monthly increase in 2008 to date to €768 million.

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This is similar to the average monthly increase in 2002, when residential mortgage lending increased by just €8.9 billion over the year.

However, with the exception of 2007, in general the months of January and

February recorded the lowest increases in residential mortgages every year since 1997.

(VB/JM)