British mortgage lending in August climbed to the highest level for the month in eight years, the Council of Mortgage Lenders said Thursday.
Gross mortgage lending grew 12 percent year-on-year to GBP 20 billion, which was the highest August figure since 2007. August was also the third straight month of strong year-on-year growth, the CML said. However, lending declined 8 percent from July’s GBP 21.7 billion.
“Mortgage lending is currently enjoying its best spell since 2008, on the back of a pick-up in house purchase and remortgage activity over the summer months,” CML Chief Economist Bob Pannell said.
“We expect further modest growth for the rest of the year, although affordability pressures are likely to limit gains for first-time buyers and home movers.”
Buy-to-let house purchase and remortgage activity, are recovering more strongly than their home-owner counterparts, the CML said.
IHS Global Insight expects U.K. house prices to see solid increases over the coming months amid firm activity.
“We suspect housing market activity will be supported over the coming months by largely helpful fundamentals, notably including stronger earnings growth, high employment, elevated consumer confidence and still very low mortgage interest rates,” IHS Global Insight economist Howard Archer said.
“Meanwhile, a limited stock of properties for sale is clearly exerting upward pressure on house prices.”
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com