Lending up 7% in October

Latest CML data has revealed that gross mortgage lending totalled an estimated £18.7 billion in October, almost 7% higher than September’s £17.5 billion figure.
The monthly total was 44% lower than gross mortgage lending of £33.4 billion in October 2007.
CML director general Michael Coogan said: “While lending in October ticked up from a low figure in [...]

Alliance & Leicester unveils new tracker and fixed rate

Alliance & Leicester is re-entering the tracker market with the launch of a two-year product at 4.89%, as well as bringing out a new two year fixed rate at 4.49%.
The new offers will be available from Friday via brokers, Alliance & Leicester branches and by telephone from Mortgage Direct.
Richard Taylor, head of mortgage products at [...]

AMI paints a bleak remortgage picture

Remortgage business could diminish further in 2009 as borrowers are forced to stay on their lenders’ SVRs until LTVs come down, the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries warns.
AMI’s latest Quarterly economic bulletin says brokers may find borrowers impossible to place with lenders until LTVs come down.
It says: “This means less business for brokers who will find [...]

70% of first time buyers still using brokers

The latest data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders shows that 70% of first-time buyers are still choosing to use a broker.
In Q3 2008 some £3.9bn worth of mortgages were carried out via brokers which represented 71% of the total amount lent to first-time buyers.
The value of loans completed is down by almost two-thirds year-on-year. [...]

Three-month LIBOR falls 1%

Three-month LIBOR has fallen by over 1% to 4.49% on the back of the Bank of England’s decision to reduce the interest rate to 3% yesterday.
On Monday three-month LIBOR was set at 5.77% and on Thursday it was set at 5.56%. Sterling LIBOR is set by the British Bankers’ Association at noon from Monday to [...]

Base rate cuts prompt fixed rate exodus

Fixed rate mortgages have seen their popularity fall significantly since the Bank of England’s shock rate cut last month, new research suggests. Borrowers are increasingly moving to tracker mortgages, hoping to make savings in the future as interest rates fall, according to Spicerhaart Financial Services.
Spicerhaart’s latest mortgage survey also found first time buyers are beginning [...]

Bank of England savings not passed on by 80% of lenders

Eight in ten mortgage lenders have failed to pass on the full benefit of the last three interest rate cuts to their customers, according to Moneyfacts. The news comes as HSBC announced it is unlikely to pass on any savings from the Bank of England’s expected base rate cut on Thursday.
Research by Moneyfacts found half [...]

Global chaos as Congress rejects bail-out

London and European markets are in freefall upon opening this morning, continuing a chaotic 12 hours for global indices following the rejection of the US $700bn bank bail-out package.
At 8.30am, the FTSE100 had already plunged 144.95 points, or 3%, to 4673.82. HBOS, RBS and Lloyds TSB are among the hardest hit.
Paris’ CAC is down 2.57% [...]

Mortgage lending plummets

According to the latest Bank of England data, new mortgage lending to individuals in August 2008 fell to £143 million, just 5% of net lending in July.
The 12-month growth rate slowed further, to 6.2%, and the three-month annualised growth rate fell by 1.0 percentage points to 2.6%.
Within the total, the increase in net lending secured [...]

Mortgage lending slides 12% in August

Gross mortgage lending continued to fall in August and has reached its lowest figure in more than three years. The amount of money lent for mortgages has fallen by more than a third in the past year, with the trend expected to continue.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ (CML) latest figures show gross lending in August [...]