(July 29): UK mortgage approvals held steady near the strongest level in 1½ years, another sign the housing market is stabilising despite the highest interest rates in 16 years.
The Bank of England (BOE) said 60,000 new mortgages got the green light in June, about the same as the 60,100 that were pushed thorough the month before. Total lending secured on properties rose to £2.7 billion (RM16.17 billion) from £1.2 billion.
Britain’s property market picked up pace in the past few months after a small dip last year, defying forecasts for a sharp drop in prices that many economists expected would follow a jump in mortgage costs. The BOE is now weighing when to lower interest rates, adding to confidence among home buyers.
“Momentum has sustained itself, however, now we have a newly elected government that is ambitious about building new homes, we hope that confidence increases further in the housing market,” said Nathan Emerson, chief executive officer of Propertymark. He added the market could see a further boost if the BOE decides to cut rates.
Nationwide Building Society is due to publish house price data later this week that economists expect will show increases for the third consecutive month in July.