Mortgage lending fell sharply in almost every sector of the market in January with buy-to-let being the only area to see rises according to the latest data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders.
First-time buyers saw a drop in lending compared to December and the same month in 2014. There were 19,000 loans advanced to first-time buyers January - down 27 per cent on December and 14 per cent compared to January 2014. These loans by value were £2.8 billion, which was down 26 per cent on December and 10 per cent on January last year.
Home movers were advanced 22,400 loans, a decline of 24 per cent compared to December and 17 per cent down year-on-year. These loans totalled in value £4.2bn - 24 per cent down on December and 14 per cent down compared to January 2014.
Remortgage lending increased month-on-month with 25,600 loans advanced - up 15 per cent on December but 12 per cent down on January 2014. The value of these loans (£4.1 billion) also increased month-on-month by 21 per cent but was down five per cent year-on-year compared to January 2014.
There were 18,200 buy-to-let loans in January - that's up six per cent on the previous month and up 12 per cent on the same period in 2014. These loans came to £2.5bn in value, unchanged compared to December but up 14 per cent on January 2014.
"The traditional beginning of year seasonal lull in lending is slightly more prominent in house purchase lending than in previous years, especially in comparison to the particularly strong levels at the start of 2014 says Paul Smee, director general of the CML.
"Increases month-on-month in remortgaging, both for home owners and in the buy-to-let market, are welcome given the recent static nature of remortgage activity. Interest rates are looking unlikely to go up in the very near future and the greater availability of good mortgage rates has probably motivated people to look at a change" he says.
Comments
Not surprising. Young people are finding it increasingly difficult to get on the ladder while older people/landlords buy up all the stock to flesh out their portfolios. Then they charge higher rents because they know demand is so high. We need a complete overhaul of the property market and a complete rethink on housing - 20 years too late. We can't carry on with the way things are currently going.