Mortgages for home buyers increased in March
Recently released figures relating to the mortgage market and housing activity have shown that during the month of March mortgage approvals for people that were buying properties increase by around one third.
This has led many industry officials to predict that the housing market has bottomed out way before some industry groups had predicted, with the signs of increased activity in the housing and mortgage markets being taken as a positive sign by some industry officials.
During the month of March mortgage approvals and completions for those looking to purchase a property are said to have increased by around 29 percent from the month of February, rising from 24,000 completed mortgages for home buyers in February to around 31,000 completions for the month of March.
However, activity in the housing market is still low, according to the report, and stands at around 33 percent lower than the same period in the previous year.
The data came from the Council of Mortgage Lenders, and one economist stated: ‘The CML mortgage data add to the mounting evidence that house price activity is picking up to a limited extent in response to the substantial fall in house prices from their 2007 peak levels and markedly reduced mortgage rates.’
However, the report also said that people still need to find a substantial deposit in order to get an affordable mortgage.
One industry expert said: ‘Because the flow of lending is still constrained, there is a sharp dividing line in the housing and mortgage markets between those who can raise a substantial deposit and those who can’t. For those who can, the burden of debt payments is low and mortgage interest is consuming proportionately less income than for a number of years. But for those without substantial deposits, entering the market is still both difficult and uncertain. While there are some signs of demand increasing, house prices remain weak and lending criteria inevitably remain inherently conservative as lenders necessarily seek to rebuild their capital position.’
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