This came to 66,000 loans in total, up 13% compared to July and 9% compared to August 2015. The average amount borrowed by home movers in the UK increased to £175,000 in August from £172,000 in July, while the average home mover household income also increased to £55,400 from £55,000. The income multiple for the average home mover went from 3.29 to 3.27 month-on-month.
The number of home-owner remortgages rose to reach its highest monthly level since July 2009, although by value remortgaging was lower than the previous month.
First-time buyers borrowed £5.1bn, up 13% on July and 24% on August last year, which equated to 31,800 loans, up 12% month-on-month and 19% year-on-year.
Paul Smee, director general of the CML, commented:
"House purchase activity bounced back from a dip in July, reflecting resilience in first-time buyer activity. Mortgage rates remain at or close to historic lows, and the re-pricing of mortgages following August’s base rate cut should help to underpin a continuing, strong appetite for home-ownership over the coming months.
"Buy-to-let by contrast continues to operate at lower levels five months after the stamp duty change on second properties. This appears to be a long-term trend, and with lenders potentially tightening affordability checks ahead of the tax changes in April 2017, activity on the buy-to-let house purchase side may well remain at current levels."
John Phillips, group operations director of Spicer Haart and Just Mortgages says:
“It is promising to see that August house purchase lending has increased by 11% since last year. This highlights the continued resilience of the housing market and suggests that previous Brexit fears of market contagion have been somewhat overdone.
“Due to the Bank’s recent base rate cut, banks and building societies have been lowering mortgage rates in response to this. These figures imply that the Bank’s move to help stimulate the economy have clearly helped to improve sentiment. In addition, the continued shortage of properties has supported house prices while strong market fundamentals have continued to underpin the housing market.
“With much speculation around an additional rate cut, it is likely that mortgages will remain competitive and this will hopefully entice further buyers to the market.”
