Mortgage lending hits seasonal high
The mortgage market is showing signs of good health, with December's lending figures extremely high for that time of year.
Although gross mortgage lending fell by six per cent in December, according to data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), lending does tend to fall towards the end of the year anyway.
Indeed, December's lending figure of £26.3 billion was up by 25 per cent on the result for December 2004 and is in fact the strongest mortgage lending figure for December the CML has ever recorded.
CML director general Michael Coogan said: 'The second half of 2005 was characterised by strengthening housing market activity and increased mortgage lending.
'We expect this trend to continue into 2006 as mortgage approvals continue to rise. Against this background, house prices should remain resilient in the coming months.'
He added that the promise of lower rates had lured people back to the market, as homebuyers realised that this was an ideal time to take out a mortgage and purchase a property.
The CML's figures also show that gross mortgage lending in 2005 reached an impressive £287.5 billion, down by just one per cent on the record for gross annual lending set the previous year. | 
