CashNews.co
Mortgage lending rose for the second consecutive quarter to reach £41.4bn in Q3, up 15% compared to the same three months of last year, according to UK Finance.
Arrears dipped by 3% in Q3 to 106,630, which more than reversed the slight increase recorded earlier in the year.
Repossession numbers were unchanged from Q2 to Q3 at 1,700, which remains considerably lower than before the pandemic, but the courts are still working through a backlog of cases dating back to before Covid.
Product transfers, where an affordability assessment is not required, accounted for 83 per cent of all refinancing in Q3.
UK Finance says that mortgage activity over the year to date has been very sensitive to changes in product pricing.
It says that rate reductions in the third quarter led to higher application numbers and it expects to see further growth in the final quarter of 2024.
But it warns that “affordability is, however, moving back towards the highly pressured levels seen through last year’s lending slump”.
Affordability for first-time buyers is being stretched once again by factors such as rising house prices, despite rates coming down.
The proportion of new first-time buyer loans where monthly payments exceed 30% of gross income has been climbing up towards the level seen a year ago.
The trade body’s managing director of personal finance Eric Leenders says: “We are seeing more signs that the cost-of-living pressures bearing down on households are beginning to ease, with mortgage lending and savings both increasing during the quarter.
“Although the challenges facing households are far from over, the picture that’s emerging from our data is one of gradual improvement.
“We know this will not be the case for all households though and I’d encourage anyone who might be struggling to reach out to their lender for support.”