June buy-to-let mortgage sales rose by 3 per cent on May, totalling £2.7bn, although year-on-year sales were down 28.6 per cent, or £1.1bn.
Equifax Touchstone analysis showed residential mortgage sales hit another post-2008 high, growing by 2.6 per cent in June on the previous month to £13.2bn. Year-on-year, residential sales were up 4.4 per cent, with a value increase of £560m.
However, the rate of growth slowed both in the short and long term.
May’s growth rate was 1.5 per cent less than in June, while year-on-year growth was 16.5 per cent, down 0.4 per cent from the May year-on-year comparison.
For residential and buy-to-let mortgage sales combined, Northern Ireland was the strongest region for sales growth for the third month in a row, with sales up 11.3 per cent on May.
Meanwhile London saw the biggest decline in sales during the month, dropping 3.8 per cent on the previous month.
Regional area | Total mortgage sales growth in May |
Northern Ireland | +11.3% |
South west | +7.1% |
Wales | +6.3% |
North west | +4.7% |
North east | +4.7% |
Midlands | +4.7% |
North and Yorkshire | +4.6% |
Scotland | +1.9% |
South east | +1.8% |
Home counties | +1.7% |
South coast | -0.2% |
London | -3.8% |
Equifax Touchstone’s data covers 92 per cent of the intermediated lending market and revealed the average value of a residential mortgage in June was £191,577 - up from £185,553 last year - and £161,102 for buy-to-let - up from £156,584 last year.
The firm’s relationship manager Iain Hill said June was another strong month for mortgage sales, despite an anticipated drop ahead of the EU referendum.
“Now an exit has become a reality, the really interesting stats to watch will be the July sales. There are a myriad of factors affecting house buying decisions and people will be weighing these up very carefully before deciding to take the plunge.
“The market is expecting sales to fall, but the extent of the impact is much harder to predict. We anticipate that lenders will react quickly and decisively to support sales, encouraging buyers with competitive new deals at lower rates.”
Earlier today (21 July), the Council of Mortgage Lenders latest estimates suggested gross mortgage lending reached £20.7bn in June; 16 per cent higher than May’s lending total of £17.8bn and 3 per cent up on the £20.1bn lent in June last year.
peter.walker@ft.com
