First-time buyer lending up 26%

Mortgage lending to first-time buyers in Scotland soared by 26% in the third quarter of 2009.

Figures from the Counsil of Mortgage Lenders (CML) Scotland revealed that 5,400 first-time buyer mortgages, worth £471m, were advanced in Q3, up from 4,300 in Q2.

Lenders advanced 8,300 mortgage, worth a total of £1bn, to existing homeowners moving home, up 15% from Q2.

In total 13,700 mortgages were taken out to buy property, a 19% increase on Q2, but 10% lower than Q3 last year.

In the UK as a whole, house purchase activity grew 31% in Q3 and was up nearly a quarter on an annual basis.

Scottish home-buyers typically borrowed 73% of the property's value in Q3, unchanged from the previous quarter and the same as in the wider UK market. Income multiples increased modestly for the second consecutive quarter, with Scottish buyers typically borrowing 2.7 times their income, compared with 2.92 across the UK.

Commenting on the data, CML Scotland policy consultant Kennedy Foster said:

"From peak to trough, house purchase activity in both Scotland and the UK has fallen by around 75%, but the timing has been different. Scotland has lagged behind the UK more widely, first during the decline in lending, and now in its weak recovery.

"But the recovery in Scotland has begun and it is encouraging to see a bounce back in first-time buyer activity. Our expectations are for a slow recovery in the mortgage market across the UK as the economy gradually revives."