Money News
| Typical APR | Per Mth | ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
10.8% | £138.85 |  |
|
12.9% | £141.49 | |
|
13.7% | £142.50 | |
|
13.7% | £142.50 | |
| * Based on £3000 over 2 years and is not a full search of the whole market | |||
Updated figures on the spending/lending front paint a mixed picture with consumers continuing to reduce credit card spending but borrowers maintaining a robust mortgage lending market.
Data from the MBBG (Major British Banking Groups), for example, shows that total net lending to individuals rose by an underlying £5.561 billion in January, compared to £5.889 billion in December and £5.733 billion in January 2006.
Of the total rise, mortgage lending accounted for £5.586 billion, compared to December's rise of £5.739 billion.
Consumer credit fell by £13 million overall; personal loans & overdrafts rose by £483 million compared to November's rise of £474 million, while credit card lending fell by £496 million compared to a fall of £329 million in December and an average monthly fall of £219 million over the previous six months.
David Dooks, BBA director of statistics, said: "We can see that the January sales did not encourage borrowing on credit cards. As in the second half of last year, card borrowing is contracting and, with weaker retail sales being reported, this reflects the consumer's current attitude to spending and their commitments.
"Mortgage lending continued to be buoyant, as we expected, following the high volumes of approvals in the final quarter of last year."
Meanwhile, latest figures from the CML (Council of Mortgage Lenders) show mortgage lending beginning 2007 strongly - gross lending hit an all-time January high of £26.8 billion. Although this was down by 6% on the £28.5 billion lent in December, it is up by 16% on January 2006 (£23 billion).
Commenting on the data, CML director general Michael Coogan said: "Mortgage lending kicked-off 2007 in robust shape, and we expect this strength to continue over the next few months. Quite how strong it will be later in the year depends on what happens to interest rates.
"While we avoided a rate rise earlier this month, the markets are still expecting at least one more quarter point rise by the middle of the year. And, because of this uncertainty, it would be surprising if some home buyers did not review the timing of their decision to move.
15 July 2008 © Moneyextra.com
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