Mortgage approvals dropped in December

Mortgage approvals dropped to an eight-month low, to 63,793 from 63,952 the previous month, amid falling household confidence and heightened uncertainty in December, according to the Bank of England. Mortgage lending rose by £4.1bn in the same month, down from £3.6bn in November. “Weak mortgage approvals reflect the very high level of house prices, which, combined with rising interest rates, have been suppressing demand. However, the data suggests that Brexit uncertainty is increasingly weighing on lending volumes,” said Hansen Lu, economist at Capital Economics. “On the demand side, new buyer inquiries are falling, while house price expectations have dropped sharply – pointing to weakening buyer confidence”.

The Times (30/01/2019)   City AM (30/01/2019)