http://business.timesonline.co.uk/to...cle5391491.ece
The number of mortgages granted to new home buyers in November tumbled by nearly two thirds to a record low, it emerged yesterday.
The British Bankers' Association (BBA) said that only 17,773 mortgages for new house purchases had been approved during the month. This was down by 61 per cent on November last year and was the lowest figure recorded since the BBA began its series in 1997.
The BBA figures represent lending from Britain's banks, which accounts for about two thirds of the UK's mortgage lending. Mortgage approvals are running at barely a third of the level they were when the housing market peaked in July last year. The BBA said that the average mortgage granted for a house purchase during the month was £117,000 - down almost 24 per cent on November last year.
There was also a sharp fall in the number of people remortgaging - suggesting that homeowners coming to the end of fixed-rate deals were shunning switching to another fixed deal and opting to move on to their lenders' standard variable rate (SVR). The number of home loans approved for a remortgage fell to 29,798, the lowest for eight years, which was almost half the level for October.
David Dooks, the BBA's statistics director, said: “Volumes of mortgage approvals reached new lows and, with house prices still falling, the encouragement of lower costs had not filtered through by the month-end, largely because people remain concerned about the impact of the slowing economy on their personal finances.”
George Johns, UK economist at Barclays Capital, said: “Mapping the latest reading across to the broader Bank of England mortgage approvals series suggests that UK lenders made just 29,000 mortgage approvals in November, down from 32,000 in October. That would be a new record low.”
Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight, the consultancy, said that the figures indicated that British housing market activity remained “dead in the water ... Even if the government measures to tackle the financial crisis work, it will take time for confidence to improve and lending to pick up significantly.”
The number of mortgages granted to new home buyers in November tumbled by nearly two thirds to a record low, it emerged yesterday.
The British Bankers' Association (BBA) said that only 17,773 mortgages for new house purchases had been approved during the month. This was down by 61 per cent on November last year and was the lowest figure recorded since the BBA began its series in 1997.
The BBA figures represent lending from Britain's banks, which accounts for about two thirds of the UK's mortgage lending. Mortgage approvals are running at barely a third of the level they were when the housing market peaked in July last year. The BBA said that the average mortgage granted for a house purchase during the month was £117,000 - down almost 24 per cent on November last year.
There was also a sharp fall in the number of people remortgaging - suggesting that homeowners coming to the end of fixed-rate deals were shunning switching to another fixed deal and opting to move on to their lenders' standard variable rate (SVR). The number of home loans approved for a remortgage fell to 29,798, the lowest for eight years, which was almost half the level for October.
David Dooks, the BBA's statistics director, said: “Volumes of mortgage approvals reached new lows and, with house prices still falling, the encouragement of lower costs had not filtered through by the month-end, largely because people remain concerned about the impact of the slowing economy on their personal finances.”
George Johns, UK economist at Barclays Capital, said: “Mapping the latest reading across to the broader Bank of England mortgage approvals series suggests that UK lenders made just 29,000 mortgage approvals in November, down from 32,000 in October. That would be a new record low.”
Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight, the consultancy, said that the figures indicated that British housing market activity remained “dead in the water ... Even if the government measures to tackle the financial crisis work, it will take time for confidence to improve and lending to pick up significantly.”
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