The Survey of Mortgage Lenders (SML) says mortgage sales are now falling as gross mortgage lending for December dropped 13% from the £24.6bn recorded a year earlier.
Figures released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders, found December to be up a fraction to £21.3bn compared with £21.7bn recorded in November. Total lending for 2004 increased 5% from 2003 to be at £292bn. Lending for house purchases, comprising 46% of all lending, at £9.8bn was up slightly from £9.1bn in 2003, but 22% lower than the £12.6bn figure during the same month in 2003. Lending for house purchases totalled £130.8bn during 2004, up 5% from the previous year, and matched the sum borrowed in 2003 when the annual lending already hits its lowest level since CML records began. Fir...
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