The number of loans advanced to movers was 29,700, a 13% fall on the previous month and down 10% on November last year. By value, lending to movers totalled £5.4 billion, down 14% on October and 5% on November last year.
Home movers' affordability remained consistent month-on-month, with borrowers typically being advanced a mortgage loan 3.01 times their gross income in November, only a sight change compared to 3.00 in October.
The typical loan size for home movers was £152,995 in November, practically unchanged from £153,000 in October. The typical gross household income of a home mover was £53,368 in November, which again was very similar to £53,515 in October.
Home movers' payment burden remained relatively low in November at 18.4% of gross income being spent to cover monthly capital and interest payments, down from 18.5% in October, and well below the recent peak of 23.8% in December 2007.
Paul Smee, director general of the CML, commented:
“The easing back of activity is not completely unexpected as there is usually a seasonal lending dip in the winter months and the major industry changes and more restrained market sentiment have inevitably caused month-to-month fluctuations over the last twelve months. Our forecasts are for gross lending to continue to grow over the next two years and this reflects our belief that there are more stable conditions in the market than a year ago.
