You are here: Home - News -

London mortgage lending down in Q1

by:
  • 27/05/2015
  • 0
London mortgage lending down in Q1
Mortgage lending fell in the capital in the first quarter of 2015 with both first-time buyer and home mover numbers down from the previous quarter.

First-time buyer numbers fell compared to both Q4 and Q1 2014. The first quarter of 2015 saw first-time buyers in London borrow £2.4bn representing 10,100 loans. This was down 16% both in value and number of loans from the fourth quarter of 2014.

Affordability has slightly worsened for first-time buyers with those purchasing in Q1 typically borrowing 3.86 times their gross income, more than the 3.84 income multiple in the fourth quarter last year, and more than the UK average of 3.37.

However the typical first-time buyer loan size fell from £216,000 in Q4 2014 to £213,750 in Q1 2015.The typical gross income of a first-time buyer household was £55,687 compared to £56,333 in the fourth quarter 2014.

Less Londoners moved house in the first three months of the year with 7,200 home mover loans advanced in Q1 2015 worth £2.5bn, down 18% by volume and 15% by value on the previous quarter. Year-on-year comparisons show a decrease of 18% by volume and down 11% by value.

Home movers typically borrowed 3.7 times their gross income in Q1 2015 compared to 3.64 in the fourth quarter 2014 and 3.04 for the UK overall. The typical home mover loan size increased from £276,999 in Q4 2014 to £293,250 in the first quarter of 2015.

Remortgaging was the only part of the mortgage market to see an increase in the first quarter of 2015. Owners in London remortgaged 10,800 loans worth a total of £2.9bn. The figure was up 2% by volume and 8% by value than the first quarter of 2014.

Homeowner house purchase in Greater London decreased in the first quarter of 2015 to 17,300 loans, down 17% compared to the fourth quarter 2014 and a year-on-year decline of 16% from the first quarter of 2014.

There are 0 Comment(s)

You may also be interested in