29
Dec
Mortgage lending could be "considerably higher" in 2010
Mortgage lending could be substantially higher in the coming year
according to an industry source.
Katie Tucker, technical manager at mortgageforce, made her remarks
following the publication of November house purchase figures by the
British Bankers' Association (BBA), which were 152.3 per cent up on
2008 and 0.4 per cent higher than the same month in 2007.
She pointed out that these statistics are "very encouraging",
particularly being so close to 2007 levels of mortgage lending,
although there is a barrier to reaching this peak of
activity.
In her view, the loss of sub-prime and self-cert products means
that specialist lending is down, which could stop the housing
market reaching the its previous heights, but otherwise the sector
is strong.
Ms Tucker explained: "Lenders have got very strong targets for
mortgage lending next year, so we can expect the figures to be
considerably higher next year as well."
The report by the BBA indicated that the value of house purchase
loans in November reached £6.6 billion.