Mortgage approvals down in January
Mortgage approvals fell sharply in January, though the British Banking Association said that stripping out one-offs the underlying market remains strong.
Home loan approvals fell to 37,804 in January from 45,039 in January, though the drop reflected a number of banks clearing expired loan approvals rather than the mortgage market weakening, the BBA said.
Underlying net mortgage lending rose to £5.6bn in January, similar to the monthly average over the last six months.
Underlying house purchase approvals were down 1% by number and up 16% by value, compared with January 2006. Remortgaging approvals were down 6% by number and up 8% by value, while approvals for equity withdrawal were 10% higher by number and 9% higher by value.
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The average value of a loan for house purchase in January was £146,700, 16% higher than a year ago.
"January saw a continued stable demand for mortgages," said BBA director of statistics David Dooks. "Actual borrowing on mortgages remains strong compared with this time last year, so the impact of higher rates has yet to feature."
New credit card borrowing fell by 7% to £7.24bn in January compared with the previous January. After seasonal adjustment net credit card lending fell by £496m. Net personal loans and overdrafts rose by £226m over December 2006.
