The outstanding value of all residential mortgage loans in the UK was £1.65bn at the end of the second quarter, a figure 3.8% higher than the same period last year, new Bank of England (BoE) figures have revealed.
Latest data also revealed the value of gross mortgage advances in Q2 was £77.9bn, which was £1.0bn greater than the previous quarter, but 12.6% lower than in Q2 2021.
The figures were published under the BoE’s Mortgage Lenders and Administrators Return, a quarterly statistical release aggregated from data on mortgage lending activities provided by around 340 regulated mortgage lenders and administrators.
Elsewhere, the value of new mortgage commitments, which covers lending agreed to be advanced in the coming months, was 1.7% greater in Q2 than the previous quarter – although this figure 2.6% less than the same quarter in 2021, at £83.9bn.
The figures also showed that the share of mortgages advanced in Q2 with LTV ratios exceeding 90% was 4.5%, a level 2.4 percentage points higher than a year earlier, and the highest seen since Q2 2020.
Furthermore, the value of outstanding balances with arrears decreased by 0.7% over the quarter and 7.2% over the year, to £13.2bn in Q2 2022. The BoE confirmed this now accounts for 0.80% of outstanding mortgage balances, the lowest reported by the Bank since recording began in 2007.
Commenting on the figures, senior personal finance analyst at interactive investor, Myron Jobson, said the BoE data shows that the property market “remained buoyant” in Q2.
“Things have changed in the housing market since Q2,” Jobson said. “It is still running red hot, but it is exhibiting the hallmarks of a slowdown. The various housing market indices suggest that new buyer enquiries have waned in recent months and the number of mortgage approvals for house purchases has fallen.
“The cost of living crisis in tandem with soaring property prices, which have gone up faster than wages, and cheap mortgages rapidly going the way of the dodo have intensified the affordability squeeze. These factors, as well as the prospect of higher interest rates to rein in runaway inflation, are likely to go some way towards taming a frothy housing market.”
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