Gross mortgage lending down seven per cent in September
Gross mortgage lending fell seven per cent last month, but hit the highest September figure since 2007.
According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), gross mortgage lending was £20.5bn in September, down seven per cent month-on-month.
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The figure represented a two per cent increase on mortgage lending since September last year, however.
For the third quarter, mortgage lending came to £63.6bn, CML said, up 11 per cent on the second quarter.
"Remortgaging activity looks set to grow, helped by attractively priced mortgage deals, encouraging borrowers to refinance," said CML's senior economist Mohammad Jamei. "Prospects for house purchase activity look slightly subdued, when compared to the same period a year ago."
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Andrew McPhillips, chief economist at the Yorkshire Building Society, said the monthly drop in lending could be attributed to a fall in home sales due to a lack of available properties.
Howard Archer, chief UK economist at IHS Global, said: "The September CML data maintains the impression that housing market activity is stabilising after recent softness, with the economy currently resilient.
"With housing market activity seemingly currently stabilising, we expect house prices to be essentially flat over the final months of 2016.
"However, we suspect that house prices will dip modestly in 2017, possibly by around three per cent."