18 November 2005
Lending for house purchases is standing firm despite the traditionally bleak prospects held at this time of year.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has shown that, even though lending is slightly down on last month, it is up by 16 per cent on October 2004 - and building societies experienced their most busy mortgage lending period of this year.
A boom is unlikely, however, with analysts warning that the next year or two is unlikely to see anything approaching a spectacular resurgence by the market in spite of recent encouraging signs.
CML director-general Michael Coogan, though, reflected on the figures with satisfaction and voiced his expectation of a continued period of stability.
He said: "The resilience of lending activity in recent months contrasts sharply with the ongoing uncertainty about household finances and consumer confidence. We believe that gross mortgage advances for 2005 will reach around £280 billion - similar to the levels seen in 2003 and 2004.
"The decision by the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee to hold interest rates steady in November was widely expected. In this environment, we believe the housing market will stabilise around current levels."
The report came a day after Nationwide said that it expects house price growth to remain fairly flat over the forthcoming 12 months.
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