The Council of Mortgage Lenders has released figures which suggest a sharp decline in the number of loans being approved to Scottish homebuyers in the first quarter of this year. Banks and lenders issued 9,700 mortgages between January and March, and while that figure represents a drop of one third on the previous quarter, this apparent decline can be explained by the eagerness of borrowers to take out a mortgage in the final quarter of 2009 before the stamp duty holiday ended. Indeed, the figure represented an increase of 28 per cent on the same period in 2009, indicating that the economic situation is slowly improving.
The value of borrowing exceeded £1 billion during the first quarter, down from £1.6 billion in the previous quarter. 3,900 loans were approved to first time buyers, worth a total of £326 million. The prospects of first time buyers have been boosted by an increase in the number of government funded affordable properties being built, which rose from 1,000 in the first quarter of 2009, to 5,500 in the first three months of 2010.





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