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Gross mortgage lending climbs 4% in April

Julia Rampen
Written By:
Julia Rampen
Posted:
Updated:
21/05/2013

Lenders increased gross mortgage lending by 4% to total

CML chief economist Bob Pannell said April was likely to be one of the strongest months for lending activity since late 2008. However, comparisons with the same month last year were skewed by the temporary drop in activity after the Stamp Duty holiday ended.

He added: “House purchase activity has been fairly strong over recent months, as measured by advances and approvals. Although year-earlier comparisons are rather distorted, as above, the underlying position looks resilient.”

The news comes after LMS figures suggested March remortgage levels rose 13% and accounted for a quarter of all mortgage lending.

Middleton Finance owner Daniel Bailey said the figures were what he had been expecting: “A lot of my cases did turn into purchases, whether residential or buy-to-let. A lot of them completed in March or April.

“The remortgage side is picking up as well. More clients are aware they can get better deals. I have seen a lot of first-time buyers this year, predominantly 90% and if they are not 90% then they have help from the Bank of Mum and Dad.”

Your Mortgage Decisions director Martin Wade said the figures reflected the general level of optimism in the industry: “There are a lot more competitive products out there that are attracting consumers.”

The Bank of Ireland rate rise had encouraged consumers to look around for other products, he added. “Consumers are a lot more tuned in to the fact that staying where they are isn’t the best option.”