CML reports mortgage lending up in Nov but 2012 outlook weak
Although new data has revealed that mortgage lending increased towards the end of last year, the housing market is not likely to experience a significant recovery in 2012, experts have said.
According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), home loans amounted to £6.9 billion in November 2011, up by five per cent on both the previous month and the figure seen in November 2010.
It was only the second time in the year that lending for home purchases had gone up.
Four per cent more first-time buyers were found to have taken out mortgages during the month than was the case in October, while fixed-rate products increased in popularity to their highest point in more than two years, presumably as people attempted to protect good interest rate deals.
CML director-general Paul Smee called the figures "a welcome indicator for the industry", but IHS Global Insight's Howard Archer was less optimistic.
"The housing market remains very low compared to long-term norms," he pointed out, adding that mortgage finance is still difficult to obtain for many people.
"We continue to expect house prices to fall by five per cent in 2012, despite the CML data. And we still believe that there are serious downside risks to this forecast."
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