A lenders’ group has revealed that the housing market is now steadying, despite growing competition between providers on mortgage rates.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said that gross mortgage lending was down 1% on the previous month, with a total of £17.8bn in September. This is still 10% higher than a year before, but will lead many to conclude that the housing boom is starting to lose momentum, abating the Bank of England’s fears of a new housing bubble.
The CML’s chief economist, Bob Pannell, said: “Recent indicators and policy actions corroborate our view of a gentle easing in market conditions. There is growing evidence that mortgage lending activity, and the housing market, are sitting on a plateau.”
However, the marginal monthly drop does not mean the market has completely lost steam. Gross mortgage lending in the third quarter of the year was £55.5bn, the CML revealed – up 8% on the previous quarter and marking a 13% increase over the same period the year before.
Meanwhile, the CML attributed a rise in provider competition to the new regulatory rules introduced in April, with providers now playing catch up.
“Lenders who are behind target for the year as a result of the delays caused by mortgage market review are cutting their fixed rates in order to catch up before the end of December,” said Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broke SPF Private Clients.
“We expect this to continue as they look to develop a strong pipeline for next year.”
In regard to this, Aaron Strutt, of mortgage broker Trinity Financial, said: “lenders love topping the best-buy tables and often undercut each other to make sure they are mentioned.”
