At Last - some Good News! House purchase approvals rise 7.4% |
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26th February 2009
House purchase approvals rise 7.4%
House purchase approvals rose 7.4% to £2.9bn in January, reveals today's statistics from the British Bankers' Association.
Mortgages approved for house purchases in January totalled 23,376, a 4.3% increase from December 2008. But approvals were still 43.2% lower in January year-on-year in terms of number and 56.1% lower in terms of value.
Net mortgage lending rose by just £2.9bn in January, down from the rise seen in December (£3.3bn) and 14.7% less than the average increase of the previous six months (£3.4bn).
Meanwhile, remortgaging approvals are now 60.2% lower than last year, with just 30,710 recorded in January 2009. This is slightly down on December's figures (30,500) but also 30.6% lower than the average of the previous six months (44,247).
David Dooks (pictured), BBA statistics director, says: "The high street banks' mortgage lending is still seeing double-digit annual growth [of 10%], albeit in a much slower market. Lower borrowing costs and falling property prices have underpinned demand at these lenders, who are providing over two-thirds of all new mortgage lending."
Furthermore, people withdrew a massive £2.3bn from banks in January, in contrast to the rise of £4.2bn in personal deposits recorded the previous month. Dooks attributes this partly to savers moving funds into alternative, higher yielding assets following interest rate cuts.
www.negotiator-magazine.co.uk
