Strong results from Nationwide have contrasted sharply with figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders, the British Bankers' Association, and the Building Societies Association - and indeed its own forecasts for 2005 - as to the waning strength of the housing market.
Nationwide reported a heady 30% rise in first-half pre-tax profit against the same period to October last year - £244.9m against £188.4m – with net lending at £7.4bn, equivalent to a near 14% market share. However, the company also stated it sees house prices rising beween just 0% to 5% in the next year. The CML reports gross lending at £23.3bn in October was down for the third month in an row, with loans of £10.3bn for housing at the lowest monthly level since February. Remortgaging at £10.3bn was at its lowest since April. The number of house purchases declined by 9% , or 90,0...
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