The Mortgage Finance Blog

The volume of mortgage lending has continued its upwards tend with the Council of Mortgage Lenders reporting a month-on-month increase of 26% for July, to £16 billion.
The press release goes on to caution that these figures are down 36% on the same period last year; however it does indicate an improvement in the market after a very poor winter period.

The majority of transactions during the month of July were property purchases rather than remortgages. Due to the low bank base rate, many customers are benefiting from low standard variable rates giving them little incentive to remortgage at the current time.

To secure the best deals for a mortgage or remortgage, a 25% deposit is still required. When borrowing more than 75% of the property’s value, the interest rates charged increase significantly.
Some mortgage lenders have commented that should the risk of further house price falls decrease, that they would be able to reduce the costs of their higher loan-to-value products.