11.6% Increase in House Purchase Applications
House purchase applications rose month on month in March by 11.6% and were up 20% year on year. This is according to Mortgage Advice Bureau and Coreco Group index.Head of lending at Mortgage Advice Bureau, Brian Murphy, commented:"March figures are encouraging and continue the positive start to the year with another month-on-month increase in borrower activity. This reinforces the belief that a more stable market is slowly returning."
"Although remortgages are still significantly up on 12 months ago, with transaction levels in March at their highest level in any one month since April 2008, numbers do appear to have reached a plateau. We may well see remortgage transactions dropping off further in April with inflationary pressures easing, making it less likely that we will see a rate rise before the summer.""Following a slight rise in the cost of the average two- and five-year fixed rates during March, pricing has fallen back marginally this month, although conversely average two-year tracker rates have ticked back up a little."These figures suggest a resurgent housing market that will support the slew of contractors looking for their perfect home. Contractor mortgage products are starting to reflect the demand that has arrived in recent months.The maximum loan amount on interest only mortgages on Lloyds Banking group has been raised to £1m from £500k. This is only in branch for now but represents a reversal of the cap they had put in place last year.The evidence of repayment vehicles would have to be assessed, a spokesperson for Lloyds stated:"It is absolutely our aim to have the same processes in place for interest only across all of our distribution channels. Requiring evidence of repayment vehicles is a very important step and allows us to review changes we made in earlier stages."This would be a great trend to see in contractor mortgages, contractors in the high income bracket would benefit from an increased loan limit. We hope to see contractor friendly lenders take the initiative in providing greater choice of products.
"Although remortgages are still significantly up on 12 months ago, with transaction levels in March at their highest level in any one month since April 2008, numbers do appear to have reached a plateau. We may well see remortgage transactions dropping off further in April with inflationary pressures easing, making it less likely that we will see a rate rise before the summer.""Following a slight rise in the cost of the average two- and five-year fixed rates during March, pricing has fallen back marginally this month, although conversely average two-year tracker rates have ticked back up a little."These figures suggest a resurgent housing market that will support the slew of contractors looking for their perfect home. Contractor mortgage products are starting to reflect the demand that has arrived in recent months.The maximum loan amount on interest only mortgages on Lloyds Banking group has been raised to £1m from £500k. This is only in branch for now but represents a reversal of the cap they had put in place last year.The evidence of repayment vehicles would have to be assessed, a spokesperson for Lloyds stated:"It is absolutely our aim to have the same processes in place for interest only across all of our distribution channels. Requiring evidence of repayment vehicles is a very important step and allows us to review changes we made in earlier stages."This would be a great trend to see in contractor mortgages, contractors in the high income bracket would benefit from an increased loan limit. We hope to see contractor friendly lenders take the initiative in providing greater choice of products.
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