Mortgage lending picks up for June

Philip Whiterow
Wednesday 10 August 2011 11:19 BST
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Mortgage advances picked up in June
Mortgage advances picked up in June (Getty Images)

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Mortgage advances picked up in June but remain well below the levels seen this time last year, new figures showed today.

The total number of house purchase loans rose by 46,700, or 22%, over May, but were still 11% below June last year and 13% lower on a value basis, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

First-time buyer activity also picked up over the previous month with 18,100 loans to new entrants, a 24% increase on May, but this was 8% lower than last year on a volume and value basis.

Estate agents have complained that problems getting a mortgage, especially for first-time buyers at the bottom end of the market, are putting a brake on the market, but on a month-by-month basis the total lent to first-time buyers rose by 29% to £2.2 billion in June.

The average loan to value for first-time buyers stayed at 80%, while the average income multiple increased to 3.22 from 3.18 a month earlier.

Remortgaging was unchanged in June from May, totalling 30,700 loans worth £3.8 billion.

CML director general Paul Smee said: "Whilst there are clearly financial uncertainties ahead, it is encouraging to see more house buyers surfacing at the start of summer.

"Recent increases in Bank of England approvals figures also show that more completions are expected in July, so the more encouraging numbers may persist for a while."

Over the second quarter to June, loans for all house purchases rose to 122,000 worth £17.6 billion, from 97,200 in the first three months, but this was down from 138,300 and £20 billion in 2010's second quarter.

Howard Archer, chief European economist at IHS Global Insight, said June is normally a strong month for housing market activity.

"While there are signs that housing market activity has edged up from its lows recently, it remains very low compared to long-term norms and we see no reason to change our view that house prices are likely to fall by around 5% overall from current levels measure by mid-2012," he added.

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