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Mortgages Latest News Approved mortgages remain slow, Bank of England figures show

Approved mortgages remain slow, Bank of England figures show

Approved mortgages remain slow, Bank of England figures show

Figures from the Bank of England have shown that mortgage approvals fell last month marking a continued slow start to the 2010 UK housing market.

The figures from February show that the number of approved mortgages used for house purchases dropped by around 1,000 to 47,094, marking the third consecutive monthly fall, following a sharp drop in January after the market was hit by the end to the stamp duty holiday.

Meanwhile, building societies saw a good stream of savings in February.

Balances held in savings accounts at mutual institutions went up by an impressive £807m in February, according to figures from the Building Societies Association (BSA) - the first increase for a year.

Some studies suggest that the end to the temporary stamp duty relief coupled with the harsh winter caused a hit to the housing market at the beginning of the year.

Figures from both the British Bankers' Association and the Bank of England indicate this 'market hangover' has continued.

The Bank of England's figures show the number of mortgages approved for home purchases fell below the average of the previous six months, which stood at 55,130, down 21% on the recent November peak, marking the lowest figures for nine months.

Howard Archer, chief UK economist at Global Insight, said: "The muted Bank of England mortgage approvals data reinforces our suspicion that house prices will be erratic and prone to corrections in 2010, and will probably be no better than flat over the year."

Philip Shaw, economist at Investec, said: "The main message is that mortgage approvals have stalled over the past few months, indicating a lull in the housing market.

"It remains to be seen if the Budget moves are enough to raise transactions and engineer an upturn."

In last week's Budget, Chancellor Alistair Darling favoured first time buyers, after he said that, for the next two years, those purchasing properties for the first time worth up to £250,000 would not have to pay stamp duty.

Meanwhile, he proposed an increase in stamp duty on properties worth over £1m, although this is not planned to come into force until well after the election, in April 2011.

Other figures from the Bank of England showed the number of those remortgaging rose in February to 27,297, an increase from January and already overtaking the monthly average based on the previous six months of 25,985.

Other borrowing on credit cards and personal loans saw its highest increase since November 2008, the Bank's figures showed.

Consumer credit increased by £528m last month, up from £349m in January, which included a £374m rise in credit card lending and a £154m increase in other loans and advances.

In recent months, building societies were struggling to attract funds as people scoured the market for the highest rates or paid off existing debts.

But the BSA said that February saw the trends reverse, with a rise in savings funds to the mutual sector.

Adrian Coles, BSA director-general said: "It is encouraging to see the mutual sector attract a net inflow of retail deposits in February, ending a run of 11 monthly net withdrawals.

"However, attracting funds in the retail market remains challenging, although we look forward to more normalised market conditions with the removal of the 100% deposit guarantee of Northern Rock.

"It is too early to tell whether the inflow that mutuals received from savers this month is a one-off or if it represents a reversal of the recent trend of outflows."

Written by Sam Gooch
Tuesday, 30 March 2010 09:38
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