Net mortgage lending holds up in November
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The British Bankers’ Association says net mortgage lending increased by £3.3bn in November, marginally up on the £3.2bn increase seen in October.
Gross mortgage lending among the BBA’s members also saw a slight increase, rising from £9bn in October to £9.2bn in December.
This is still 12% down on the previous year and the BBA says that in the absence of remortgaging activity, gross lending is unlikely to grow from its current level.
Mortgage approvals for house purchase increased from 42,552 in October to 44,713 in November and remortgage approvals increased from 21,195 in October to 22,360 in November.
Mortgage approvals for house purchase are incredibly up 152% on the previous year. The BBA points out this is a sign of the low point the market dipped this time last year rather than a resurgence in the market.
But it says the number of house purchase approvals has risen gradually throughout most of 2009 and is now slightly higher than two years ago.
David Dooks, statistics director at the BBA, says: “In the housing sector, prices have continued to edge up and approvals for house purchase are now back at a similar level to that of two years ago.
“Remortgaging activity continues to run at a low level as borrowers revert to low standard variable rates or trackers from maturing fixed rate loans.”
