Tag Archives: industry
Home purchase lending up just 1% in final month of 2014, CML data shows
House purchase lending to home buyers increased slightly by 1% month on month in December but compared to December 2013, the number of loans fell by 5%, according to the latest CML data. However, the figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders also show that first time buyers saw a month on month lending increase, up 3% on November, but still 3% down on December 2013. By value, £3.8 billion was advanced to first time buyers in December, 6% up on November but unchanged compared to December 2013 while the number of loans advanced to home movers was 29,500, the same as November but down 8% on December 2013. By value, lending to movers totalled £5.5 billion, up 2% on November but 2% down on December 2013. Remortgage lending activity also saw a decline with the number of remortgage loans 7% down on November and 13% down on December 2013. The value of these loans at £3.4 billion was down 6% on the previous month and down 11% on December the previous year. Buy to let loans totalled 17,300 in December, unchanged from November but up 18% compared to December 2013. The total value of these loans at £2.5 billion was up 4% month on month and up 32% compared to December 2013. On a quarterly basis home owner house purchase lending fell 5% and was down 3% compared to the fourth quarter of 2013. The value of these loans at £28.8 billion declined compared to the third quarter by 8% but was up 2% compared to the same period in 2013. First time buyers in the fourth quarter of 2014 saw minimal change compared to the previous quarter and the same quarter in 2013. There were 80,100 loans advanced to first time buyers in this period, down 2% on the third quarter and unchanged compared to the fourth quarter of 2013. The value of these loans totalled £11.6 billion, which was down 5% on the third quarter but 5% up on the fourth quarter of 2013. Home movers were advanced 93,100 loans in the fourth quarter, a decline of 8% compared to the third quarter and 5% down year on year. These loans totalled £17.2 billion in value, 10% down on the previous quarter, but unchanged compared to the fourth quarter of 2013. Remortgage lending declined this quarter with 73,100 loans advanced, down 3% on the third quarter and 13% down on the fourth quarter 2013. The value of these loans at £11.1 billion declined 4% quarter on quarter and 10% year on year compared to the fourth quarter 2013. Buy to let loans totalled 54,000 in the fourth quarter of 2014, up 4% on the previous quarter and up 16% on the same period in 2013. This totalled in value £7.7 billion, an increase of 5% on the third quarter and up 26% on the fourth quarter 2013. Overall for 2014, home owner house purchase totalled 676,900 loans, up 11% on… Continue reading
Over 55s boost property equity release in UK to record high
The total value of equity release lending in the UK reached almost £1.38 billion in 2014, the highest since records began in 1992, according to the latest industry figures. The 2014 total was up 29% from 2013, bringing the equity release market back above pre-recession levels, the data from the Equity Release Council also shows. It points out that home owners aged 55 and over are increasingly use their housing wealth to boost their finances and help with living costs in later life. On a quarterly basis the value of equity release lending totalled £365.7 million in the final quarter of 2014, an increase of 18% year on year and it reached £741 million for the second half of the year. There was also a six year high in new customer numbers with more than 5,700 over 55s releasing equity from their homes in the last three months of 2014 and there were 5,712 new customers in the final quarter of the year, the largest amount in a single quarter since the fourth quarter of 2008. It pushed the total number of new equity release customers in 2014 to 21,336, a 13% increase from 2013 and the largest yearly figure since 2008. Customer numbers have now grown for four consecutive years since the recession. The average value of equity release lending also hit a new milestone in 2014, reaching £64,787, up 14% from the previous year and exceeds the previous record of £60,504 in 1998 by 7%. Some 66% of new equity release customers chose drawdown products in 2014, in contrast to just 25% of customers in 2006. Lump sum products now account for 34% of new plans while home reversion account for less than 1%. However, drawdown products account for a smaller share of the market by value at 60% or £825 million during 2014, as these products allow retirees to take smaller sums as and when they need them, often allowing more of their housing wealth to be preserved. ‘These lending figures show that 2014 was truly a record breaking year for the industry. Equity release is proving to be a crucial tool for financial planning in retirement, and is allowing retirees to improve their standard of living and give them more flexibility to support themselves or family members,’ said Nigel Waterson, chairman of the Equity Release Council. ‘Many retirees have more wealth tied up in property than anywhere else, so it is only logical that this forms part of their plan to enjoy a comfortable retirement. The new pension freedoms won't change the fact that many people do not have enough savings for later life. There is a danger that people's pension pots will be here today, gone tomorrow, but housing wealth is the one constant that many in this generation can rely on for support,’ he explained. ‘Increasing awareness of the available products and their benefits means that equity release will continue to thrive in 2015… Continue reading
New home approvals in Australia reach highest level on record
New home building approvals reached their highest ever monthly level during November, the latest official data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show. Approvals for new homes totalled 18,245 in seasonally adjusted terms during November 2014, almost 3% higher than the previous record which was set in August 1994. Overall approvals in November rose by 7.6% on the previous month and were 10.1% higher than 12 months earlier. A breakdown of the figures show that seasonally adjusted new dwelling approvals increased most strongly in Victoria at 19.7%, followed by Tasmania at 8.2. They were up 5.7% in Queensland and 1.2% in Western Australia. A fall of 1.4% in new home approvals was recorded in New South Wales, while approvals were down 16.3% in South Australia. In trend terms, new dwelling approvals increased in the ACT by 3.3% and in the Northern Territory by 2.9%. The Housing Industry Association, the voice of Australia’s residential building industry, pointed out that growth has been concentrated in the multi-unit segment of new home building, which rose by 18% in November year on year. Detached house approvals saw growth of 3.6% over the same period. ‘Residential construction was the economy’s good news story during 2014, and today’s figures indicate that we can look forward to another positive year for the industry,’ said HIA senior economist, Shane Garrett. ‘The fact that approvals hit an all-time high during November augers very well for the pipeline of residential construction work in 2015. With weaknesses in several areas of the Australian economy, new home building has come to life at an opportune time,’ he explained. ‘Residential construction is now a central pillar of support for domestic demand in Australia. It is important that policy reform continues in the areas of planning, land supply and removing the taxation burden on new home building. This will form an important part of achieving the necessary rebalancing of the economy,’ he added. Continue reading
