Home loans drop 35%, lenders say
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The number of new mortgages granted to home buyers slumped to just 62,000 in December 2007, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). The figure was 35% lower than at the same point a year ago. With just 225,000 such mortgages lent between October and December, it meant that lending was at its lowest winter level since 1995. The CML said the decline was partly due to the increased costs of repaying a mortgage and tighter lending policies. But the CML said things should become easier for home buyers this year. "Affordability has been stretched further in 2007 but the recent base rate cuts and the expectation of future cuts will ease debt servicing burdens in 2008," said the CML's director general Michael Coogan. "For first-time buyers, the combination of subdued house price inflation and lower mortgage rates means affordability should ease slowly as the year progresses," he added. |
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