It has been reported the Council of Mortgage Lenders that mortgage lending has gone up by 4 per cent in February, and loans to first-time buyers has gone up by 7 per cent.
Figures for first-time buyers returning to the market came in at 9,400, which is an increase from January but far below the figure reached last year in February 2008, which was 17,400. Most first-time buyers have had to provide a deposit of 25 per cent in February though, which is a new record, thanks to ?tight lending constraints?.
Overall, lending activity is very weak compared to previous years, where between 2002 and 2007, the average February total was 76,000. Figures for 2008 and 2009 have only reached around a third of those seen previously.
The amount first-time buyers can borrow as a multiple of their income is also down ? in January it was three times their income but in February it was 2.95. Also, the average first-time buyer loan was ?95,000, down from ?97,000 in January and ?114,000 in February last year.
All these declines show the change in house prices over the same period, as well as first-time buyer deposits growing in size.
Affordability is now an option with those able to get a mortgage, thanks to lower income multiples and mortgage rates. Interest payments consumed 15.4 per cent of the average first-time buyer?s income in February, down from 20.1 per cent in February 2008 and the lowest proportion since June in 2004.
