"This data confirms that the housing market is slow in London, especially for home movers, but is still performing well in UK regions other than England"
In Q2, there were 9,960 new first-time buyer mortgages completed in London, 1.9% higher than in Q2 2018.
First-time buyer figures have seen an annual rise of 6.3% in Wales, 4.1% in Northern Ireland, and 3.5% in Scotland - the highest number of first-time buyer completions since Q2 2017.
Additionally, although figures show that remortgaging is down by 9.5% in London, it remains strong across the rest of the UK. In Northern Ireland, homeowner remortgages are up 16.5% compared to the second quarter of 2018. Remortaging has seen annual growth of 15.3% in Scotland and 7.7% in Wales.
Homemover mortgages have also seen growth in all regions except London, which saw an annual dip of 3%. Homemovers increased by 4.7% in Northern Ireland, 6.4% in Scotland and 1.7% in Wales.
John Phillips, national operations director at Just Mortgages and Spicerhaart said: “Last week, UK Finance’s Mortgage Trends Report revealed that remortgaging fell, first-time buyer mortgages were down and homemover mortgages were down across the UK. But today, UK Finances Regional Lending Report paints a different picture.
“The regional stats – which are analysed on a quarterly basis - reveal that compared to Q2 2018, first-time buyer mortgages are up in every region. And while London has seen remortgaging and homemover mortgages fall, in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland there have been increases across the board compared to last year.
“I think this shows two things; firstly, it reveals just how much London impacts the national figures, and that when you take the capital out of the stats, it is a very different picture.
“Secondly, it shows that perhaps it is not all doom and gloom as we have been led to believe over the past few months. When looked at on a quarterly basis - which you could argue reveals more of a longer term trend than monthly figures - activity is actually increasing, and that is great news for the housing market.”
Mike Scott, chief property analyst at Yopa, added: "This data confirms that the housing market is slow in London, especially for home movers, but is still performing well in UK regions other than England where prices are much lower and affordability is much better. Despite higher salaries in London, the average first-time buyer mortgage is for 3.8 times the borrower’s gross household income, compared with 3.02 times in Northern Ireland, 3.16 times in Scotland and 3.35 times in Wales. Yopa expects to see a further narrowing of the north-south divide in house prices, as London and the south-east have reached their affordability limits, while there is still some headroom in the rest of the country."
