CML - "Small fall in lending for September"

Thrugelmir

Report issued today. Use link to see data tables

Loans for both house purchase and remortgage fell slightly in September, according to new data released today by the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

48,200 loans were taken out for house purchase in September, worth £7.1 billion, down 2% by number and 5% by value compared to August but up 3% by number and value compared to September 2010.

There were 34,200 remortgage loans advanced, worth £4.3 billion. This represented a 1% decline on August (with no change in value) but a 25% increase (26% by value) on a year ago.

The third quarter overall saw 144,200 loans (worth £21.6 billion) for house purchase, up 16% by volume and 21% by value from the second quarter. However this was 6% lower than the activity levels in the same period last year. In contrast remortgaging from July to September saw both quarterly and annual growth, with the 100,300 remortgage loans (worth £12.6 billion) taken out representing a 23% rise in volume compared to the third quarter of 2010 (24% by value).

The decline in house purchase lending in September was driven entirely by a drop in home mover activity. There were 30,100 loans to home movers in September (worth £4.9 billion), down from 31,400 (worth £5.3 billion) from August. BuT in contrast, first-time buyer numbers rose in September. The 18,200 loans (worth £2.2 billion) taken out by first-time buyers represented an increase from 18,000 (no change by value) on August.

http://www.cml.org.uk/cml/media/press/3081

shortchanged_2

I've said it before that the housing market is like a Mexican stand off at the moment and something is going to have to give sooner or later.

Will it either be the banks who start lending more freely or will vendors start reducing their prices more to attract buyers?

Basically this stalemate cannot continue for too much longer as the housing market is barely functioning at the moment.

MrRee_2

We are bouncing along the bottom ... no rises, no falls ... it's been like this for over a year now.

Really2

shortchanged wrote: »

Basically this stalemate cannot continue for too much longer as the housing market is barely functioning at the moment.

I wish I could agree, but it seems to have been able to operate like this for the lat 3 years.

It is not running at normal levels, but seems to able to function as it is.
But to sell seems to take a lot more motivation than it did at peak levels.

nembot

With high inflation, its actually a falling market (technically) for over a year now...

MrRee_2

Really2 - I agree with you ...... let's take the words 'normal levels'.

Who says what is a normal level?

Maybe 2007 was an odd level? Maybe the level we see now (and have done since 2008, as you say) IS the normal level?

I think it will just tick over as we are for decades ..... no movement either way - we seem to have hit the level we should be at.

Really2

nembot wrote: »

With high inflation, its actually a falling market (technically) for over a year now...

http://www.cml.org.uk/cml/media/press/2811
£6.3Bn in Nov 2010 for purchases.

I make that a 13% increase, so how do you work out it has been falling in real terms for over a year now?
3% less than last september yes. But lending has been rising for virtually a year now.