The Council of Mortgage Lenders and the Building Societies Association have confirmed that although mortgage lending has fallen since May, it is still up from June 2001. The housing market remains buoyant, despite a seasonal fall.
May 2002 held the record for mortgage advances at £20.3 billion, whereas June totalled £17.1 billion.
Re-mortgaging totalled £5.6 billion in June, up from £4.3 billion last year. The number of loans made to first-time buyers have declined to 33% of the total for June, from 43% last year.
The CML has warned that this is an indication that first time buyers are finding it more difficult to afford their first property.
Mr Michael Coogan, director general of CML said that we should expect a decline in lending after the record breaking figures for May 2002. However, June's figures are the second highest on record which indicates that the housing market remains buoyant.
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