Nationwide said it was responsible for nearly 20 percent of all new mortgages granted to first-time buyers in the UK, a sign that it has played its part in bolstering the country’s economic recovery, The Guardian reported.
Gross lending for the first half of this year climbed by 15 percent to £10.2 billion (S$19.97 billion), it said. Of that figure, £2.5 billion (S$4.9 billion) was borrowed by first-time buyers, helping nearly 20,000 people acquire their first home.
Lending to first-timers was up by 94 percent compared to H1 2011 and translates to an 18.5 percent share of the first-time buyer market.
However, Nationwide’s Product and Marketing Director Chris Rhodes expects home prices to remain “broadly flat” next year.
Nationwide was also affected by a significant increase in losses from commercial property lending, which reached £193 million (S$377.95 million) in H1 2012 from last year’s £72 million (S$141 million).
“We are cautious on the commercial property sector and do not anticipate any significant improvement in the prospects for this segment of our business until the end of 2013-2014 at the earliest. Most of this lending relates to the period prior to 2008,” said Nationwide.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor of PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
Related Stories:
Mortgage competition heats up down under
US mortgage rates hit record low again