Remortgaging sees sharp 30 per cent rise in August

There were signs of life in the housing market yesterday, with figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders showing that the number of loans approved for remortgaging in August had climbed at an annual rate of more than 30 per cent.

The CML said 34,100 remortgaging loans worth more than £4bn were taken out over the month, about a third higher than August last year. Loans for house purchases, including first-time buyers and home movers, were also up, rising to 52,000 against 51,000 in August 2010. Loans to first-time buyers were up 5 per cent compared with both July this year and August last year.

"Even though it is impossible to ignore the knocks to confidence emanating from the eurozone, August lending showed welcome signs of life," the CML's director general, Paul Smee, said.

But separate data from the Department for Communities and Local Government showed that the housing market was not yet out of the doldrums, with average prices falling by 1.3 per cent in the year to August.