CML: House purchase loans 'up 4%'
Property professionals
14th April 2009
The number of house purchase loans increased by four per cent in February, new figures have shown.
According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), the month saw 24,300 such loans agreed, worth a total of £3.1 billion.
However, activity remained weak at around one-third of the levels for February seen between 2002 and 2007.
The average loan borrowed by first-time buyers was £95,000, down by £2,000 from January and £114,000 at the same time in 2008.
Michael Coogan, director general of the CML, said that mortgage approval figures published by the Bank of England recently showed some indication of an improvement.
"We are not convinced that underlying trends have shifted sufficiently to change our forecasts for mortgage market activity in 2009, but there are some positive signs for later in the year," he commented.
Last month, the CML pledged to help those living in rented properties who are affected by their landlord's inability to pay their mortgage.
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