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mpc: 16 The strength of the housing market was less easy to explain. It was understandable that secured lending should be growing rapidly: new borrowers needed to finance increasingly large mortgages; lenders had been competing aggressively for market share; and refinancing was more common than in previous upswings, and was associated with top-up lending. In addition, the incomes of those likely to become owner-occupiers had grown faster than average incomes, so the increase in aggregate measures of income gearing might overstate increases at household level. But it was still surprising that prices were continuing to increase so strongly. It was possible that some of this strength simply reflected the balance between demand for and supply of housing. Another possible explanation was that investment demand for houses had increased: residential property might have become more attractive simply as an asset, particularly to hold as an investment for retirement income, given the disappointing performance of the equity market over several recent years and of with-profits life policies, even though the demand for housing services might not have increased.