Home buyers in London borrowed £5.5bn for home-owner house purchase, down 23% quarter-on-quarter and 3% on a year ago. They took out 17,500 loans, down 17% on the previous quarter and 8% compared to Q2 2015.
Home movers borrowed £2.5bn, down 41% on Q1 and 14% compared to a year ago. This equated to 6,700 loans, down 37% quarter-on-quarter and 18% on quarter two 2015.
However first-time buyers continued to drive London mortgage lending, borrowing £3bn - up 3% quarterly and 10% annually.
Remortgage activity increased quarterly to £4.3bn - the highest number of remortgage loans since the first quarter of 2009, and the highest value of remortgage lending in London since the last quarter of 2008.
Paul Smee, director general of the CML, commented: "First-time buyers have continued to drive mortgage lending in London, with 10% more first-time buyer lending in the second quarter than the first. The opposite is time for home movers, probably just reflecting a rebalancing after the very strong first quarter as many buyers sought to complete purchases before changes to stamp duty.
"The second quarter data largely pre-dates the EU referendum. While it will take time to see how Brexit may affect the market, the London mortgage market clearly remains active and firmly open for business."
