The figures show that in June, on a non-seasonally adjusted basis:
- First-time buyers borrowed £5.9bn, up 26% on the previous month and 9% on June 2016. This equated to 36,000 loans, up 22% month-on-month and 6% year-on-year.
- Home movers borrowed £7.8bn, up 26% on May and 15% year-on-year. This equated to 36,500 loans, up 24% month-on-month and 9% compared to a year ago.
- Home-owner remortgage activity totalled £6bn, up 5% by value on May and 7% on a year ago. The number of remortgage loans totalled 34,300, up 5% month-on-month and 6% on a year ago.
- Gross buy-to-let totalled £3.0bn, up 3% on May and up 3% compared to June 2016. These equated to 19,700 loans, up 3% month-on-month and 6% year-on-year.
“June’s figures show a busy month in the mortgage market, with home movers having their highest monthly activity levels for over a year and an especially high number of loans for first time buyers,” commented Paul Smee, Head of Mortgages at UK Finance. “Buy-to-let activity remains subdued compared to its 2015 peak but consistent month-to-month since stamp duty changes in April 2016.”
“But there are also signs of a softening market and we are not anticipating that this performance will be sustained in the second half of 2017,” he added. “A slightly lop-sided market could well show some growth in house purchase lending but alongside reduced remortgage and buy-to-let activity.”
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