At our Frimley High street office, we’ve been busy..really busy.
At the moment people are looking to fix their mortgage to the low interest rates, because there is a strong possibility that interest rates will rise next year.
But of course first time mortgagees, are coming on board with the help of the government’s Help To Buy Scheme and of course many other reasons, like the recent survey that showed that renters pay a heavy price for renting a property long term when they could be getting a great mortgage deal.
But as you have probably read in the news, the level of mortgages secured by people buying homes surged to the highest level for over six years, in January.
According to an announcement made by the British Bankers’ Association, nearly 50,000 mortgages received approval from lenders in the first month of 2014. This represents and upward shift of 57 per cent compared with the same period a year ago. Some have already claimed that this is a success for the government since their much-vaunted ‘Help to Buy Scheme’ began to kick in and drive demand.
“Following on from last month, mortgage borrowing remains rising as compared to 2013’s figure,” said David Dooks, Statistics Director at the British Bankers’ Association (BBA). He went on to say that as mortgage assistance schemes help first time buyers, so housing sales chains are helped along generally. According to the association, approvals for new purchases have risen quite significantly and now look to be at their highest position since September of 2007.
In excess of £8 billion in new mortgage lending for home buyers was signed off by banks and building societies in January, which is a significant recovery compared to 2013. However, January’s new mortgage value was up 6 per cent on December which may indicate that confidence in the economy generally has improved in the last quarter. Dooks pointed out that mortgage lending should be seen in the context of other forms of credit. According to him, credit card spending is also on the up which is good evidence that consumer confidence in the economy continues to improve.
In another announcement, the BBA spoke of increasing business confidence that was being seen in the UK. According to the BBA, more business leaders feel confident about their chances of getting bank lending. Like potential homeowners, the research indicates that despite many businesses thinking that they won’t be able to get loans, if they apply then they often end up being successful.
The BBA’s mortgage figures indicate that more first-time buyers are entering the housing market because of the government-backed mortgage assistance schemes. This is likely to mean that existing homeowners are able find the right sort of buyers for their home and are then able to move up the property ladder. As first time-buyers kick start the market, so greater activity is triggered for all sorts of properties – not just starter homes. This is likely to be welcome news for any owners of family homes who have been looking to move for the last few years but have been cautious about putting their home on the market.
Need help in getting your mortgage…Call me or one of my team today 01276 670777
Michael
