There were 9,000 new first time buyer mortgages completed in Scotland in the fourth quarter of 2018, some 5.9% more than in the same quarter of 2017, the latest industry figures show.
The £1.07 billion of new lending was 9.2% higher year on year, according to the just published regional mortgage trends report from UK Finance.
They also show that last year there were 34,100 new first time buyer mortgages, down 3.1% compared with 2017 but the £4 billion of new lending in the year was 2% more than in 2017.
There were 9,000 new home mover mortgages completed in Scotland in the fourth quarter of 2018, up 2% on the same quarter of 2017 and the £1.46 billion of new lending in the quarter was 5.8% more year on year.
The data also reveals that in 2018, there were 34,300 new home mover mortgages, some 0.9% less than in 2017 but the £5.5 billion of new lending in the year was 1.5% more than in 2017.
There were 9,600 new Scottish home owner remortgages completed in the fourth quarter, some 14.3% more than in the same quarter a year earlier and the £1.21 billion of remortgaging in the fourth quarter was 16.3% more year on year.
In 2018, there were 35,400 new home owner remortgages, 11% more than in 2017 and the highest annual number of home owner remortgages in Scotland since 2011 when the figure stood at 36,400. The £4.5 billion of remortgaging in the year was 13.8% more than in 2017.
‘Scotland witnessed its highest remortgaging activity since 2011 last year, driven by a number of fixed rate loans coming to an end and customers locking into attractive deals,’ said Douglas Cochrane, chair of UK Finance’s Scotland Mortgage Committee.
‘The number of first time buyers in 2018 softened slightly compared to the previous year, defying the national trend. The reduced activity reflects a normalisation of mortgage demand, following above average growth in 2017,’ he added.
