First-time buyers helped to bolster the mortgage market last month, with the number of loans issued to first-time buyers at its highest level in over a year, according to data published by UK Finance.
There were 35,500 new first-time buyer mortgages completed throughout the month; 2% more than in the same month the previous year, and the highest volume recorded since July 2017. There was £6.1 billion of lending to first-time buyers; a 5.2% increase on the previous year.
The rest of the mortgage market saw relatively subdued activity; with 38,000 new home mover mortgages, there was 2.3% fewer than in the same month the previous year. The value of mortgages to home movers remained consistent at £8.5 billion. Regarding remortgages, there were 37,100 new homeowner remortgages completed during the month; a 0.3% fall on the previous year, while the £6.5 billion value remained the same year-on-year.
There were 6,000 new buy-to-let home purchase mortgages completed during the month - equating to a decrease of 13% over the same period the previous year. By value, this represented £800 million of lending, a significant decrease of 20% compared to the previous year. However, buy-to-let remortgages completed during the month rose by 4.5% over the same month last year to 13,800. By value, this equated to £2.2 billion of lending during the month; 4.8% more year-on-year.
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