According to a recent report the Nationwide Building Society saw mortgage lending levels fall by 40% last year, stating that this was fuelled by “unprecedented market conditions”. Like other lenders, the Nationwide had to cut back dramatically on lending last year, with the global credit cards crunch making it increasingly difficult for lenders to get finance to fund their mortgage lending operations, which resulted in tighter credit conditions and fewer mortgage loans products on the market.

The figures from Nationwide showed that mortgage lending levels up to 4th April stood at £6.7 billion, which was a sharp drop from the £11.2 billion from the previous year. The share of the mortgage market taken by Nationwide has fallen to 7.1% from 11% for the previous financial year. HSBC, on the other hand, has recently seen its market share of the mortgage market soar as a result of its popular Rate Matcher mortgage, which has been extended due to impressive take up from borrowers.

The Chief Executive of the building society, Graham Beale, said that he expected the global credit crunch to continue into next year, adding that house prices would also continue to fall over the course of this year. He said: “Last month we reported the first annual fall in house prices for 12 years. We think this trend will continue throughout the year, but remaining within single digits.”

He added that the cost of inter-bank lending had resulted in an increase in the cost of mortgages, adding: “The society is conscious of the difficulties faced by consumers in these disrupted market conditions and we are playing our part to help by continuing to focus on offering mortgages that meet the needs of both existing members and first-time homebuyers.”