According to the figures, the £6.0bn of new lending in the month was 9.1% more year-on-year. The average first-time buyer is 30 and has a gross household income of £42,000.
There were 36,200 new homemover mortgages completed in the month, some 1.1% more than in the same month a year earlier. The £7.8bn of new lending in the month was 4% more year-on-year. The average homemover is 39 and has a gross household income of £55,000.
UK Finance revealed that during the month there were 39,600 new homeowner remortgages completed - a 1.3% rise against the same month a year earlier. The £6.8bn of remortgaging in the month was the same year-on-year.
6,100 new buy-to-let home purchase mortgages were also completed during November, some 9% fewer than in the same month a year earlier. By value this was £0.8bn of lending in the month, 11.1% down year-on-year.
There were 15,000 new buy-to-let remortgages completed in the month, some 9.5% more than in the same month a year earlier. By value this was £2.4bn of lending in the month, 9.1% more year-on-year.
Jackie Bennett, Director of Mortgages at UK Finance, commented on the figures: “A mixture of competitive deals and schemes including Help to Buy saw even more first-time buyers get a foot on the housing ladder during November.
Meanwhile, homeowner remortgaging activity has steadied, after reaching its highest level in a decade the previous month as a large number of fixed-rate deals came to an end.
In the buy-to-let market new home purchases remain subdued, while remortgaging continues to grow as landlords lock into attractive rates.”
Paul Smith, CEO of haart estate agents, had this to say: “First-time buyers yet again dominated the market in November, as they continued to take advantage of the combination of lower interest rates and slower house price growth. Our latest branch data reveals that the average first-time buyer deposit dropped 6.4% on the year at the end of 2018.
Whilst the outcome of Tuesday night’s vote will further induce wider uncertainty, on the ground we’re seeing the residential market becoming immune to macro-political and economic events. There is a backlog of buyers who are locked and loaded to buy this year - our branches saw a 12% increase in new buyer registrations in December and this level of activity continued throughout the first couple of weeks of 2019. Perhaps Brexit’s bite won’t be as bad as its bark.
Although we did see the market slow last year, with price and transaction growth only moderate compared to previous years, all signs now show that this was the pit of the market’s trough. Brexit induced price corrections ended in 2018.
It is important to remember that there is life beyond the Westminster bubble and that the fundamentals of the property market remain the same. Brits need to move home for a whole host of lifestyle reasons, and we are not currently building enough houses to meet national demand. Buyers won’t put their life on hold forever, and strong demand will always prop prices up.”
Richard Pike, Phoebus Software sales and marketing director, said: “The figures from UK Finance this morning show that people were taking the opportunity at the end of last year to get in before the effects of Brexit negotiations could really be felt. There were plenty of good deals for everyone either looking to move, buy or remortgage, and the numbers indicate that many took advantage.
Now, of course, we come to the crux of negotiations, and into completely unknown territory. Today’s report from RICS paints a very gloomy picture and I have no doubt that most people will be erring on the side of caution in the coming months. The one thing to bear in mind is that ours is not the only industry that will be affected by Brexit. It was always going to be a sticky time, the question now is will our government actually manage to come to an arrangement that, as Theresa May says, can ‘get the job done’?
Until such time, I think many will be sitting tight rather than making any big financial decisions.”
Dilpreet Bhagrath, Mortgage Expert at Trussle, commented: “These figures show Brexit uncertainty hasn’t prevented first-time buyers from grasping the opportunity to step foot on the housing ladder. The reality is that there are good deals to be had and many first-time buyers are taking advantages of schemes such as Help to Buy.
Meanwhile remortgaging has slowed, month-on-month, suggesting home owners have been adopting a ‘wait and see’ approach as we approached Brexit. However, it’s worth remembering these figures relate to November, well before uncertainty reached its recent peak - linked to recent votes in Parliament. Because of this, we expect to see another surge in remortgaging in the coming months, as many home owners look to lock in fixed deals to avoid any instability in their mortgage payments."
