Growth returned to mortgage lending in November 2011

Mortgage lending experienced a year-on-year rise for only the second time in 2011.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) reported that loans for house purchase totalled 47,000 in November (worth 6.9 billion) a rise of 4% from October and a 3% rise compared to November 2010. Re mortgaging also increased with the number of loans totalling 31,200 in November (worth 4 billion) up from 29,500 (worth 2.7 billion) in October and 30,700 (worth £3.8 billion) in November 2010.

Whilst the number of buyers has declined since the credit crunch, the proportion of loans advanced to first-time buyers has remained extraordinarily constant between 34%-40% since 2005. First-time buyers acquired 17,300 loans worth £2.1 billion in November - up 4% by volume and 5% by value compared to both October 2011 and November 2010.

Home mover loans increased by 5% in volume and 4% in value from October and 2% in volume and value from the previous year.

Fixed rate mortgages increased to their highest popularity in more than two years - with 65% of all borrowers choosing a fixed rate compared to 62% in October.

Repayment mortgages continued to be popular, chosen by the vast majority of borrowers. In November 98% of first time buyers (up from 97%), 83% of movers (up from 82%) and 79% of remortgagers (up from 77%) took out a repayment mortgage.

Paul Smee, Director General of the CML said: "A rise in mortgage lending towards the end of 2011 is a welcome indicator for the industry considering confidence has been weak due to fragile economies both at home and in the Eurozone. We should expect a further increase in first-time buyer activity over the next few months as they push through their purchases to take advantages of the stamp duty concession before it ends in March."

protection.uk.net comment:

"If you have been approved for a mortgage recently, how would you cope if you lost your income? Our Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance could help support your monthly outgoings if you lose your income via accident, sickness or unemployment."

Article reproduced with the kind permission of The Council of Mortgage Lenders. Sourced: 2012-01-19

Note: We provide news articles for the interest of our visitors, this news article does not does not necessarily reflect the opinions of protection.uk.net, First Call Payment Protection Ltd or it's employees.