This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
The most recent analysis conducted by Equifax Touchstone has revealed that UK mortgage dales fell by £1.8bn in July- a fall of 10.8% on the previous month.
More positively, buy-to-let figures were more resistant to the general decline, falling by only 0.2% (£3.9m) to £2.6bn. Residential sales fell by 12.8% (£1.8bn) to £12.2bn. Overall, mortgage sales for July totalled £14.8bn, up by 10.8% year-on-year.
Falls
All regions of the UK suffered a significant fall in sales during the month. Scotland saw the largest falls of 19.8%, followed by Northern Ireland (-18.5%) and the South East (-15.4%).
Buy-to-let mortgages defy July slump
John Driscoll, Director at Equifax Touchstone, noted: ‘These figures show how volatile the mortgage market can be. Sales have tumbled in July, with every region suffering substantial declines as buyers are put off by continuing political and economic uncertainty, coupled with the worrying gap between inflation and wage growth. These circumstances may be further compounded by the potential for an interest rate hike as early as September, driven by continued pressure on the pound.’
‘On a more optimistic note, mortgage sales are up over 10% year-on-year and a dip in sales for July is not uncommon; however, as the summer period comes to a close, the long-term outlook for the market still remains very unclear.’[1]
[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/finance/buy-to-let-sales-defy-july-mortgage-slump.html
