Remortgaging down

Expectations of falling borrowing rates pushed down the number of households remortgaging in June, lenders say.

There were 23,400 remortgaging loans advanced during the month, more than 20% down on the previous month and on June 2011.

But the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said that first-time buyer activity had held up during the month.

Mortgages advanced to this group were at one of the highest levels of the last year, the lenders' group said.

The CML said that the fall in the number of remortgaging loans - down 20.9% compared with May, and 24.5% lower than June 2011 - might have been driven by predictions of cheaper borrowing in the future.

The double-dip recession is continuing, with the Bank of England recently forecasting that UK economic growth would be close to zero in 2012.

The data had fuelled anticipation for an interest rate cut, but the Bank's governor, Sir Mervyn King, has dismissed calls for a reduction in the near term.

The number of loans advanced for house purchases stood at 47,500 in June, the CML figures show.

This was up 1.7% on the previous month, but 0.8% down on a year earlier.