Press Release
January 19th, 2006 For Immediate Release HOUSE PRICES LITTLE CHANGED IN 2005 BUT MORTGAGE ADVANCES CONTINUE TO RISE Britons continue to borrow more despite slow down in house price rises. House prices were little changed overall through 2005 but mortgage levels rose, according to Moneyextra’s Monthly Mortgage Market Monitor. The average mortgage value completed by Moneyextra (Online Broker of the Year, Mortgage Strategy/Pink Home Loans Service Awards) customers in December 2005 was £143,643.48, up 14.74% on the same figure 12 months earlier. The increase in mortgage values occurred against a background of broadly static house prices. The average property value being searched on Moneyextra in December was £207,850, up just 1.25% on year ago levels. However, that figure conceals wide variations in performance across the market. Property values being searched against by first time buyers rose by 8.59% to £165,779 but property values being searched by those people looking to move actually fell back over the course of the year by more than £4,000 to £244,771. The average mortgage being sought in December on Moneyextra’s website was £127,3801, down 0.45% on the month. The values of mortgages being sought by movers and remortgagers fell while the value being sought by first time buyers rose 2.06% on the month to £135,116. The most popular mortgage lender in the month of December and indeed for 2005 as a whole was Nationwide Building Society2. However, unlike previous years when mutual lenders dominated the tables, Nationwide was the only mutual lender in the top ten for the month and one of only two to appear in the top ten for the year.
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www.moneyextra.com
AWD Moneyextra is a trading name of AWD Moneyextra Limited which is authorized and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). AWD Moneyextra Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of AWD Group plc, a member of AWD Holding AG, Europe’s premier independent financial services group. Registered in England No. 3685041. Registered Office: 1 King Street, Manchester, M2 6AW. VAT Registration No. 50337 4571
For further information, please contact: Robin Amlôt Senior Editor, Moneyextra Tel: 0870 191 5626 public.relations@moneyextra.com
NOTES TO EDITORS Moneyextra’s Compare and Buy Tool Searches December 2005
Mortgages Average Borrowed Average LTV Average Property Value Average First Income Average Second Income % with dual incomes
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FTB £135,116.00 81.50% £165,779.00 £36,087.00 £19,790.00 41.07%
Moving £157,415.00 64.31% £244,771.00 £46,445.00 £21,288.00 55.51%
Remortgage £109,528.00 49.10% £223,077.00 £42,452.00 £18,774.00 55.25%
All £127,380.00 61.28% £207,850.00 £44,709.00 £19,727.00 48.60%
Figures are based on the first 50,000 searches carried out on AWD Moneyextra’s Compare and Buy mortgage tool each month.
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www.moneyextra.com
AWD Moneyextra is a trading name of AWD Moneyextra Limited which is authorized and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). AWD Moneyextra Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of AWD Group plc, a member of AWD Holding AG, Europe’s premier independent financial services group. Registered in England No. 3685041. Registered Office: 1 King Street, Manchester, M2 6AW. VAT Registration No. 50337 4571
NOTES TO EDITORS (continued)
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AWD Moneyextra’s top mortgage lenders December 2005 1. Nationwide BS 2. Alliance & Leicester 3. Halifax 4. Clydesdale Bank 5. Northern Rock 6. Bank of Scotland Mortgages 7. Scottish Widows Bank 8. Intelligent Finance 9. Cheltenham & Gloucester 10. GMAC Residential Funding
Jan-Dec 2005 1. Nationwide BS 2. First Active 3. Intelligent Finance Alliance & Leicester 5. Halifax 6. Cheltenham & Gloucester 7. Coventry BS 8. Northern Rock 9. Abbey 10. Clydesdale Bank
AWD Moneyextra regularly wins awards. In 2005 it won:
Best Financial Advice Site, Online Finance Awards Online Broker of the Year, Mortgage Strategy/Pink Home Loans Service Awards Financial Services Technology Project of the Year, CNET Networks UK Technology Awards Best Use of Technology, National Business Awards 2005 Southeast region
AWD Moneyextra is one of the UK’s longest-established personal finance websites. It has 536,000 unique users and delivers 7.8 million page views every month and has 513,000 registered users. As of 1st December 2005, AWD Moneyextra featured: More than 8,000 Mortgages from 105 providers 1,170 Stocks & Shares ISAs from 53 providers 161 Cash ISAs from 95 providers 189 Credit Cards from 63 providers 111 Current accounts from 40 providers 815 Deposit accounts from 151 providers 63 Personal Loans from 55 providers
AWD Moneyextra is a trading name of AWD Moneyextra Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Not all products and services on AWD Moneyextra are regulated by the FSA. 3 of 3
www.moneyextra.com
AWD Moneyextra is a trading name of AWD Moneyextra Limited which is authorized and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). AWD Moneyextra Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of AWD Group plc, a member of AWD Holding AG, Europe’s premier independent financial services group. Registered in England No. 3685041. Registered Office: 1 King Street, Manchester, M2 6AW. VAT Registration No. 50337 4571