Mortgage market sees pre-summer boost as remortgaging continues strong upward trend

UK Finance’s Mortgage Trends Update for May 2018 reveals that the market is boosted, helped by the strong upward trend of remortgaging.

  • There were 32,200 new first-time buyer mortgages completed in the month, some 8.1 per cent more than in the same month a year earlier. The £5.4bn of new lending in the month was 12.5 per cent more year-on-year. The average first-time buyer is 30 and has a gross household income of £42,000.
  • There were 31,100 new homemover mortgages completed in the month, some 4.4 per cent more than in the same month a year earlier. The £6.6bn of new lending in the month was 4.8 per cent more year-on-year. The average homemover is 39 and has a gross household income of £55,000
  • There were 36,000 new homeowner remortgages completed in the month, some 7.1 per cent more than in the same month a year earlier. The £6.3bn of remortgaging in the month was 6.8 per cent more year-on-year.
  • There were 5,500 new buy-to-let home purchase mortgages completed in the month, some 9.8 per cent fewer than in the same month a year earlier. By value this was £0.7bn of lending in the month, 22.2 per cent down year-on-year.
  • There were 14,600 new buy-to-let remortgages completed in the month, some 15 per cent more than in the same month a year earlier. By value this was £2.3bn of lending in the month, 21.1 per cent more year-on-year.
Commenting on the data, Jackie Bennett, Director of Mortgages at UK Finance said:

“The mortgage market is seeing a pre-summer boost, driven by a rise in the number of first-time buyers and strong remortgaging activity. It is also particularly encouraging to see an increase in homemovers, after a period of relative sluggishness in this important segment of the market.

“However, affordability remains a challenge for some prospective buyers and this is reflected by a gradual increase in loan to income multiples.

“Meanwhile purchases in the buy-to-let market continue to be constrained by recent regulatory and tax changes, the full impact of which have yet to be fully felt.”

 

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