Mortgage lending ‘down in September’
Both mortgages for new house purchase and remortgages fell slightly in September, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders .
Overall, mortgages for new house purchase fell by 2% in number and 5% in value, compared with August, although it was still slightly higher than lending levels in September 2010.
Remortgages fell by 1% compared with August, with no change in value – but this was 25% higher in number and 26% higher in value than a year earlier.
The CML said that the fall in new house purchase lending was “driven entirely by a drop in home mover activity”, with mortgages for home movers falling from 31,400 in August to 30,100 in September. But first-time buyer numbers increased – up from 18,000 in August to 18,200 in September.
And affordability continued to improve for first-time buyers. The average interest on a new first-time buyer mortgage in September equated to 12.7% of the borrower’s income, compared with 13.0% in August.
CML director general Paul Smee said: “Although both house purchase and remortgage loans experienced a small drop in September, the overall market to date shows a stable picture. However, the backdrop of global and domestic instability makes the future more difficult to call.”
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