CML highlights effect of stamp duty holiday end on lending

House purchase loans fell by more than three times the decline in remortgages in January, latest figures have indicated.

Latest figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders CML clearly highlight the effects of the end of the temporary stamp duty holiday in December.

Some 49 per cent fewer house purchase loans were taken out in January than in the previous month, but remortgages fell by only 15 per cent.

The news is not all bad however, as total lending levels of £4.1 billion in the first month of the year exceeded the £3.1 billion achieved 12 months earlier.

CML director general Michael Coogan said "a quiet start to the year" had been experienced.

"Lending volumes in January were low, but we had predicted this would happen due to the end of the stamp duty holiday distorting December's figures," he added.

"When December and January data are taken together, they show little change in underlying market conditions compared with recent months."

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2010-03-18 13:02:29 © Moneyextra.com