Brian Murphy, Head of Lending for Mortgage Advice Bureau comments:
“The report issued by the Nationwide this morning is based on lending for house purchases at post survey approvals stage, so provides us with a reliable indicator in terms of the UK housing market over the last month from one of the country’s biggest mortgage lenders.
This morning’s figures indicate a modest level of month on month growth, which highlights that the delicate balance between stock and supply has been maintained in recent weeks. This would perhaps suggest ongoing buyer confidence and that those who are currently transacting are doing so regardless of any political and economic uncertainty. That all said, the fragmented market conditions we’ve seen of late remain, with some parts of the UK performing better than others both in terms of transaction numbers and values, a picture which is likely to continue for the foreseeable future.
On the positive side, today’s data from the Nationwide does point towards the UK housing market continuing to perform to forecasts for 2018, and if the current levels of employment together with access to competitively priced mortgages remains then there is every chance that the current status quo will continue. With many lenders already pricing in a rate rise, should it be announced tomorrow, whilst there may be a short-lived reaction to any increase, given the current levels of buyer demand versus available homes for sale, any impact is most likely to be sentiment-based in real terms.”
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