"The housing market in Greater London has some unique characteristics compared to the rest of the UK - more first-time buyers, but lower overall levels of home-ownership."
- CML
In Northern Ireland, figures fell by 13% quarter-on-quarter but rose 26% year-on-year. House purchase figures fell by 22% quarter-on-quarter in Scotland and by 16% in Wales.
Andrew McPhillips, Chief Economist at Yorkshire Building Society, said that the offset in London "may largely be a result of an increase in demand in the region caused by landlords rushing to beat the introduction of the higher stamp duty rate". He added that the disparity could also be explained by the wider gap between supply and demand, meaning that there is a "greater need for prospective buyers to consider purchasing a property at any time in the year in order to compete with other buyers".
Strong home mover activity also contributed largely to London's strong Q1 lending figures. Home movers borrowed £4.2bn, up 18% quarter-on-quarter and 63% compared to a year ago.
In other UK regions, home mover activity was more muted, falling by 21% in Scotland and 12% in Wales. In Northern Ireland, home movers borrowed £180m, down 5% quarter-on-quarter but up 29% compared to a year ago.
Discussing the figures for Northern Ireland, Karen Hedges, Mortgage Manager for First Complete, said that "whilst the rest of the UK is plagued by affordability issues, property in the Northern Irish market remains accessible to borrowers at all stages of their homeownership journey, including first time buyers".
Remortgage activity fell slightly quarter-on-quarter in all regions except London, which saw a 4% rise.
First-time buyer figures fell in all regions on a quarterly basis, but saw strong increases compared to Q1 2015.
Jeremy Leaf, former RICS chairman and north London estate agent, said that the year-on-year increase in first-time buyers is 'encouraging' and shows that "activity in the first quarter was not just about buy-to-let investors trying to beat the stamp duty hike but a stronger underlying sustainability to the housing market".
Derek Wilson, CML Northern Ireland chair, commented: "Lending in the beginning of the year is traditionally muted due to seasonal factors, as seen in the UK overall, but the year-on-year increases in first-time buyers and home movers are encouraging. This is the best performing first quarter of the year in Northern Ireland for house purchase lending since 2007, and remortgage levels have also stayed at a consistent level the past few quarters. As with the rest of the UK, we are forecasting a gradual upward trend in lending in 2016 and 2017."
Paul Smee, director general of the CML, added: "The usual seasonal dip in lending in the first quarter of the year didn't seem to impact London as strongly as the UK overall, mainly due to a strong uptick in home mover activity. Remortgage lending also performed well resulting in the highest first quarter remortgage levels in the capital since 2009.
"The housing market in Greater London has some unique characteristics compared to the rest of the UK - more first-time buyers, but lower overall levels of home-ownership."
