21
Jun
Property market rebounds in May
Mortgage lending and home sales rebounded in May after a fall in
April.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders said total lending jumped by 24% to
£12.2bn last month.
Meanwhile HM Revenue & Customs said completed sales rose from
64,000 in April to 71,000 in May.
In April property market activity slumped, after 1% stamp duty was
reintroduced on 24 March on home purchases by first-time buyers,
following a two-year exemption.
The CML warned that more big fluctuations in lending were likely to
appear this year.
"Mortgage lending continues to seesaw, albeit against a broadly
flat market," said the CML's chief economist Bob
Pannell. "Unfortunately, a number of one-off factors, such as
the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics, are set to distort market
indicators over the coming months, and it may be the autumn before
we can more accurately gauge the state of the market.
Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private
Clients, said: "May's uplift in lending is hugely encouraging given
everything else that is going on at the moment with the eurozone
crisis and a number of lenders reining back on their lending in
response to this.But before we get carried away, the combination of
the Diamond Jubilee celebrations, Olympics and general summer lull
means that lending should fall off again over the next few
months."
SOURCE: BBC NEWS