Gross mortgage lending holds steady in February

Published 18th Mar 2011

Gross mortgage lending held broadly steady in February from a year earlier at 9.5 billion pounds, the Council of Mortgage Lenders said on Friday.

On the month, gross lending for home purchase was also almost identical to January's 9.475 billion pounds, the body for the residential home loan industry said.

"There is little in the latest batch of market data that would cause us to revise our market forecasts for 2011, and nothing that alters our underlying view that this is going to be a challenging year for households and the housing market," said CML economist Bob Pannell.

"The housing market remains stuck in a rut."

Government austerity measures, sluggish wage growth and limited mortgage finance have depressed house prices since the middle of 2010.

Most economists think house prices will dip further this year as the weak economic recovery deters homebuyers.

The CML data covers banks, building societies and others who undertake about 94 percent of all residential mortgage lending in Britain.

Source: ' Reuters '

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