THE number of Northern Ireland homeowners remortgaging their properties rose significantly in the third quarter of 2019, new industry data has shown.
A total of 2,870 remortgages were completed in the three-month period, 21.6 per cent more than in the third quarter of 2018 and the highest quarter since 2016. In all, the value of the lending was approximately £318 million.
The figures were compiled by UK Finance, which represents more than 250 firms across the banking and finance industry.
The report only dates back to the third quarter of 2016, but it’s likely to be one of the highest figures since the collapse of the housing market in 2008.
The number of first-time buyer mortgages in the north rose 6.7 per cent year-on-year during the quarter to 2,880. Again, it’s the highest in 13 quarters, but it’s likely to be the highest in the past decade.
The value of new first-time buyer lending hit £314m in the third quarter, another post-recession record.
UK Finance estimates there were 1,880 new homemover mortgages completed in the third quarter, a 2.6 per cent drop on the same period in 2018.
Meanwhile, the latest UK housing index produced by Nationwide found annual house price growth remained below one per cent for 12 months in a row.
Across the UK, house prices were 0.8 per cent higher in November than a year earlier, the building society said.
Property values have grown by less than one per cent annually every month since December 2018.
However, November's annual increase is the strongest in seven months, with house prices having grown by just 0.4 per cent annually in October.
House prices also increased by 0.5 per cent month on month in November, taking the average property value to £215,734.
Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist, said: "Annual house price growth remained below one per cent for the 12th month in a row in November, at 0.8 per cent, though this was the strongest outturn since April.
"Indicators of UK economic activity have been fairly volatile in recent quarters, but the underlying pace of growth appears to have slowed as a result of weaker global growth and an intensification of Brexit uncertainty."
With the general election approaching, Mr Gardner said past polls do not appear to have resulted in a significant change in house price trends.
Mr Gardner said: "On the whole, prevailing trends have been maintained just before, during and after UK general elections.
"Broader economic trends appear to dominate any immediate election-related impacts...
"It appears that housing market trends have not traditionally been impacted around the time of general elections.
"Rightly or wrongly, for most home-buyers, elections are not foremost in their minds while buying or selling their home."
Jeremy Leaf, a north London estate agent and a former residential chairman of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), said: "The housing market remains largely on hold but still relatively resilient, underpinned by near-record low mortgage rates, strong household spending and shortage of stock outweighing political and economic uncertainty.
"At the sharp end, pent-up demand can remain so only for so long as realistic buyers and sellers prepare for life beyond the election and cautiously check on value before deciding to move."
