Mortgage Lending Rises In March 2010
Mortgage Lending Figures From CML
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has reported that activity in the mortgage market has risen by £11.5 billion in March 2010 which is up 3% on the previous year and up by almost a quarter compared to February. However on a quarterly basis this quarter was down 24% compared to the final quarter in 2009.
The March figure may look promising on the first part of the quarter but January and February 2010 were subdued mainly because of the end to the stamp duty holiday, where stamp duty was increased to £175,000 in order to help kick start the market. The limit fell back to £125,000 on Jan 1st 2010.
The CML have warned the gradual withdrawal of help from the government will have a huge impact on the market in the coming months. The gaping £300 billion hole in the market due to the collapse of wholesale funding has been plugged by the liquidity scheme introduced by the government, but this is due to be withdrawn in 2012.
Paul Samter, economist at the CML, said yesterday: “Financial institutions still face the prospect of around £300bn of official support schemes beginning to end from next year, and will need to find alternative funding sources. This will likely limit how much new funding can be made available to the housing market.”
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