Average LTV in Scotland at three-year high
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The average LTV on a mortgage taken out in Scotland climbed to 72% in the final quarter of 2011, its highest level since Q4 2008, according to data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders in Scotland.
This compares to an average LTV of 70% for the UK as a whole.
The figures also show there were 11,700 loans worth £1.4bn advanced for house purchase in Scotland in Q4 2011, down 8% by volume and value compared to the previous quarter, but relatively unchanged compared to Q4 2010.
The UK as a whole fared slightly better than Scotland, with the number of loans for house purchase decreasing by 5% from Q3 2011 but increasing by 1% year-on-year.
For remortgage, 9,100 loans worth £870m were advanced in Scotland, a drop of 6% by both volume and value from the previous quarter but a rise of 15% by volume and 14% by value from Q4 2010.
The number of loans to Scottish home movers dropped 10% to 7,200 in Q4 2011, from 8,000 in Q3 2011 and from 7,500 in Q4 2010.
The number of first-time buyers in Scotland in Q4 2011 fell 4% to 4,500, down from 4,700 in Q3, but up from 4,200 in Q4 2010.
The average first-time buyer in Scotland spent 11.1% of their income on mortgage interest payments in Q4 2011, lower than anywhere else in the UK.
Over 2011 as a whole, Scotland accounted for 9% of the total UK house purchase market and 10% of all UK remortgaging.
The number of house purchase loans in Scotland declined by 7% to 44,500 in 2011 as a whole, but remortgaging increased by 18% to 36,900 loans.
Jim Dunn, chair of CML Scotland, says: “Scotland, as well as the rest of the UK, continues to see a constrained mortgage market. However, it is encouraging to see positive signs, such as better affordability for first-time buyers and a decrease in average deposits for home movers, emerging.
“2012 will still be a challenging year but we hope to see the slight easing of constraints continuing throughout the year.”
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