04 March 2011

Fantastic February!

The Bank of England’s January lending figures report that the number of remortgages rose to 33,498. This is nearly 10% above the six month average. These statistics suggest an increasing wariness of future mortgage rates and in addition, the fact that fixed rate mortgage interest rates were relatively low in January.
Mortgages for property purchases also increased, to 45,723, slightly below the six month average of 46,686. Total lending to individuals increased by £1.5bn.

I suspect these figures to be vastly different for February as some lenders increased fixed rates due to the fluctuation in the money markets and many customers will have raced to secure low rates before they were withdrawn.

Nationwide has reported that house prices increased by 0.3% in February with the average UK house price now standing at £161k. This is 0.1% lower than this time last year. The lack of first time buyers and easily accessible mortgages are still major factors with regards to prices and activity in the housing market.

AToM had a fantastic February for new business received. Applications were up 68% compared to February 2010 and resulted in our best month since June 2009 for new business. This was mainly due to our top four lenders – GE Money, who offer mortgages to the employed with some allowance for previous credit problems. Bank of China, who had a market leading lifetime tracker rate residential mortgage (they also cater for Buy to Lets). Platform (part of the Co-operative Bank Plc) who are actively lending in the Buy to Let market, with small arrangement fees. And AToM’s “Complex Prime”, a number of funders who look to assist those who have been declined by the high street lenders credit scoring systems for no apparent reason. This could include not being on the voters role, having to little (or too much) credit, securing a charge on more than one property, lending into retirement and many other reasons. Whatever your mortgage requirements, speak to an independent mortgage adviser!

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