David Brown, CEO of Marsh & Parsons, comments: “Mortgage lending in London got off to a lively start this year, jumping leaps and bounds ahead of 2015 levels across all sectors. And its encouraging to see home movers at the forefront of the pack at a time when the supply of new housing is dragging its heels, its vital that existing homeowners are taking opportunities to sell up and move up the property ladder, freeing up properties at the lower end of the market.
“Its also a great vote of confidence in the capital. People sell their homes when they recognise strong house price growth and the favourable returns to be made, plus the belief that they’ll be able to find a buyer easily. In London, all these elements are firmly in place. We saw buyer demand increase 9% year-on-year in Q1, with an average of 14 buyers competing for every available property on the market. Its important in the long term that first-time buyers in London remain similarly assured of the affordability and possibility of climbing onto the ladder.”
CML Mortgage Lending in London, Q1 2016
- Home buyers in London borrowed 7.1bn for house purchase in the first quarter of 2016, up 6% quarter-on-quarter and 41% on a year ago. They took out 21,400 loans, down 2% on the previous quarter but up 20% compared to the first quarter 2015.
- First-time buyers borrowed 2.9bn, down 7% on the fourth quarter 2015 but up 19% on the first quarter last year. This equated 10,700 loans, down 10% quarter-on-quarter but up 3% year-on-year.
- Home movers borrowed 4.2bn, up 18% quarter-on-quarter and 63% compared to a year ago. This equated to 10,600 loans, up 8% quarter-on-quarter and 43% on quarter one 2015.
Remortgage activity totalled 4bn, up 4% on the fourth quarter 2015 and 36% compared to a year ago. This came to 13,500 loans, up 2% quarter-on-quarter and 21% compared to a year ago.
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