There was a 24 per cent increase in the amount of mortgage lending activity during May, data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) shows. Property buyers and remortgaging homeowners snapped up £12.2 billion in loans during the month.
Not only is this an increase of nearly a quarter on April’s £9.9 billion, but it represents a 13 per cent rise since May 2011. However, CML chief economist Bob Panell says the market is still “seesawing”, although there is promise in the government’s approach to the eurozone crisis. Mr Panell highlighted the ‘funding for lending’ initiative as a positive step to boost the mortgage market.
Yet he went on to warn: “Unfortunately, a number of one-off factors, such as the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics, are set to distort market indicators over the coming months, and it may be the autumn before we can more accurately gauge the state of the market.”
