New Council of Mortgage Lenders’ (CML) lending data in Scotland in the fourth quarter of 2014 show a decline quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year in house purchase but an increase in first-time buyers compared to the fourth quarter of 2013.

In the fourth quarter of 2014, there were 7,000 First-time buyer loans in Scotland, worth £750m. This was down compared to the third quarter 5% by value and 4% by volume. Compared to the fourth quarter of 2013, the number of loans increased by 3% and the amount borrowed by 9%.

There were 8,000 loans to home movers, valued at, £1.2bn. This was down 8% in volume and down 9% in value compared to the third quarter. Compared to the fourth quarter of 2013, there was a decrease of 8% in volume and a decrease of 5% in value.

The total number of remortgage loans declined in the fourth quarter to 5,700 loans (£650m), which was down 3% in volume but unchanged in value on the third quarter. Compared to the fourth quarter of 2013, activity was down 17% in volume and 13% in value.

In 2014 as a whole, Scotland accounted for 6.6% of UK-wide annual house purchase activity, down from 6.9% in 2013.

Lenders advanced 27,700 loans to first-time buyers in Scotland totalling £2.9bn. This was 16% up in volume compared to 2013, and 23% up in value.

Home movers in Scotland took out 31,800 loans, 5% more than in 2013. The value of these loans was £4.6bn, up 10%.
There were 23,400 loans advanced for remortgage in 2014 totalling £2.6bn. This was 14% down by volume compared to 2013, and 9% down by value.

Home-owner house purchase in Scotland decreased in the final quarter of 2014 to 15,000 loans, down 6% on the third quarter and 3% on the fourth quarter of 2013. These loans reflected lending of £1.9bn, down 6% compared to the third quarter but up 1% on the fourth quarter 2013.

Overall in 2014, the total number of loans advanced for home-owner house purchase was 59,300, which was up 9% compared to 2013. These loans aggregated to £7.5bn, an increase of 15% compared to 2013.