Mortgage lending ticked upwards in November 2018 with first-time buyers showing stronger growth than home movers but buy-to-let purchase continues to fall, figures from UK Finance show.
There were 36,200 new first-time buyer mortgages in November, which is 5.8% more than in the same month a year earlier. They took out £6 billion in the month – a rise of 9.1% year-on-year.
The number of new home mover mortgages was also 36,200, but this was just 1.1% more than in the same month a year earlier. New lending totalled £7.8 billion – 4% more year-on-year.
The average first-time buyer is 30 and has a gross household income of £42,000 compared to the average home mover who is 39 with a gross household income of £55,000.
There were 39,600 new homeowner remortgages completed in the month, some 1.3% more than in the same month a year earlier. The £6.8 billion of remortgaging was the same year-on-year.
Buy-to-let
A total of 6,100 new buy-to-let home purchase mortgages were completed in November, some 9% fewer than in the same month a year earlier. By value this was £0.8 billion of lending, down 11.1% year-on-year.
Buy-to-let remortgaging fared better with 15,000 completions in the month, 9.5% more than in the November 2017. By value this was £2.4 billion of lending, representing an annual increase of 9.1%.
Comment
Jackie Bennett, director of mortgages at UK Finance, said: “A mixture of competitive deals and schemes including Help to Buy saw even more first-time buyers get a foot on the housing ladder during November.
“Meanwhile, homeowner remortgaging activity has steadied, after reaching its highest level in a decade the previous month as a large number of fixed-rate deals came to an end.
“In the buy-to-let market new home purchases remain subdued, while remortgaging continues to grow as landlords lock into attractive rates.”
Source: Mortgage Finance Gazette