Scottish market better than rest of UK

The slowdown in the Scottish mortgage markets is less pronounced than the conditions affecting the whole of the UK, new figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) have revealed.

There were 18,500 loans for house purchases distributed in Scotland during the second quarter of 2008, which is an 18 per cent increase on findings in the previous quarter.

This is a 34 per cent decline form the same period last year, but is still substantially less pronounced than the UK-wide decrease of 46 per cent.

"The mortgage market is clearly in a period of decline across the UK as a result of the shortage of mortgage funding and softening borrower demand. But the slowdown is less pronounced in Scotland," assessed Crawford McCaughie, chairman of CML Scotland.

The CML's members together undertake 98 per cent of all residential mortgage lending in the UK, with loans totalling £1.2 trillion.

Property Investment News posted on 22/08/2008 14:42:18