Prudential’s Premier Mortgage Service (PMS) is claiming the top spot for 2002 among the country’s mortgage clubs, recording applications worth £24.5 billion (£14.9 billion 2001) and completions for the same period reaching £18.35 billion (£10.98 billion).
With 35 lenders on its panel, the Premier Mortgage Service facilitated the arrangement of over 204,000 new mortgages last year, accounting for 8.5% of all mortgages arranged in the UK during 2002.
However, commenting on the 2002 figures, John Malone, national mortgage manager at Prudential said: “It was a very good year and we know that the next 12 months will be extremely testing as the competition for business quickens in a market that has had a slower start to 2003 than 2002.
“The property market is beginning to show signs of slowing down and external factors are beginning to impact on forecasts for this year. We are seeing elements of this slow down particularly in London and the South East but this is off set by the buoyancy of the North-East and West where the lending market continues to grow.
“Although many major lenders set optimistic targets many months ago with PMS, the signs are emerging that these figures many very well need to be revisited as the slowing down takes account of flatter market conditions. In light of such conditions we expect the major opportunities to surface in the less traditional areas and for the market to be driven by re-mortgage deals whilst the Buy to Let market will remain a stable part of the overall lending portfolio.
“However the buzz word for 2003 will be equity release and we expect to see an influx of major high street names into this soon to explode market segment, as homeowners look to new ways to provide for their long term financial security.”
