The housing market remained broadly unchanged in April, with consistent levels of borrower activity and remortgaging, according to the latest mortgage index from the Mortgage Advice Bureau.
This index – which looks at the full range of data available for the month – shows that the average residential purchase loan was £174,993 in April.
This was unchanged from the previous month, and just 1.2 per cent higher than in April 2017.
Similarly, there was almost no change in the average purchase price, average purchaser salary, typical LTV, or age of applicant when compared to the previous month and previous year.
The average age of a residential mortgage applicant is now 36 years. For first-time buyers the average age is now 32, and for those looking for a residential remortgage the average applicant is aged 43 years.
In the remortgage market the size of the average loan increased marginally (2 per cent) in April to £177,688. This was a 1.9 per cent increase on April 2017.
The buy-to-let market showed a similar consistency in April. The average purchase loan has decreased by 1.03 per cent to £127,162 when compared to the previous month. This was broadly similar to April 2017.
In the buy-to-let market the average purchase applicant is 45 years.
Mortgage Advice Bureau’s head of lending Brian Murphy says: “In April we observed plenty of purchase-led activity alongside significant numbers of homeowners deciding to remortgage, probably due to the news headlines suggests that an interest rate rise in May was likely.”
He adds: “The Easter holiday at the beginning of the month coupled with un-seasonally late bursts of inclement weather appeared to impact buyer behaviour in some areas with many estate agents reporting viewings postponed during this period.
“However homebuyer borrowing activity remained strong all month overall, suggesting that consumer confidence was still very much in evidence.
“Completed transaction volumes as a whole were slightly tempered according to HMRC data, although deals finalising in April would be a reflection of those which probably originated in January, if not previously.”
Murphy added that house price growth continued to perform within market expectations. While the Halifax reported year-on-year average price increases at 2.2 per cent, the MAB data suggests an average annual increase of 0.6 per cent.
Murphy adds: “On a monthly basis price movements vary between indices which we would suggest highlights the volatility of data, and also the fact that all indices vary due to the point at which the data is captured.”
He pointed out that there continued to be significant regional variations with some major conurbations faring far better than others.
He adds: “Overall we’d suggest that buyer demand has remained consistent, with the ongoing lack of available properties still at near all-time record lows, contributing in no small part to a market which appears to be turning slightly stagnant in some areas.”
