12
Oct
House purchase activity "has revived"
House purchase activity is looking much more positive than it was
at the beginning of 2009, one property expert has asserted.
Paul Samter, economist at the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML),
the trade association for the residential mortgage lending
industry, said that purchase goings-on in the property sector are
now on a "firmer footing", although Britons should expect a lengthy
recovery process with seasonal highs and lows.
However, Mr Samter cautioned: "Remortgaging demand has fallen away
in the low interest rate environment and this is dragging down
gross lending levels overall."
His comments follow the publication of statistics from the CML,
which revealed that at 53,000, the number of house purchase loans
in August was 29 per cent higher than 12 months previously,
bringing activity to more than twice its January level.
It also reported that first-time buyers were granted 19,200 loans,
while a total of 33,400 loans were given out to general home
movers.
