Press
FT Adviser 29th June 2006
Massive May for Moneyextra
May recorded another record month for mortgage lenders, according to figures from IFA AWD Moneyextra.
The figures indicate a late-spring boom, following the stability of the first few months of the year.
AWD Moneyextra said that it was too early to tell whether the rise indicated the start of a new trend in the market. Some experts have predicted a sharp rise in home sales to beat the introduction of Hips in a year.
The IFA reported a jump in mortgage activity amounting to a rise of more than 27 per cent on April in the total value of home loans being arranged.
The average value of mortgages completed by its customers increased by more than 7 per cent to £150,556 in the same period.
The late spring activity means that the average value of loans completed by AWD Moneyextra over the past five months reached £140,893, compared with £126,908 between January and May 2005.
AWD’s figures mirror those from the Building Societies Association, which announced that building society advances were up, year-on-year.
Gross advances amounted to £4.61bn in May 2006, compared with £3.53bn in May 2005 and approvals were £5.45bn in May 2006, up on £3.84bn in May 2005.
Adrian Coles, director general of the BSA, said: “It is reasonable to assume the housing market will be buoyant going into the summer. It has been widely predicted that the market will show signs of cooling, but this is not likely to happen until the autumn.”
James Carter, IFA, Twickenham-based Virtue Financial, said: “We are busy at the moment, but put this down to the time of year.
“I certainly would not ascribe this to a public awareness of Hips as there hasn’t been much publicity about it.”