UK Mortgage Approvals Fall To Lowest Level For 9 Years
The Bank of England has announced that UK mortgage approvals fell to 64,000 in March, the lowest level since 1999 and a reflection of the difficult conditions in the market at the moment. Many analysts had expected a figure in the region of 66,000 but the actual figure was even lower than that. It seems that while we have seen some signs of life this month the mortgage markets are still some way off a recovery.
The reduction in mortgage approvals has obviously had a knock on affect to the UK housing market where transactions have dried up compared to recent buoyant levels. The problem for those wishing to sell is the fact that the longer the delay the more chance of a fall in the value of their property pushing more and more people into serious debt.
Even though there are signs that the markets may be recovering slightly this month, the recent bond issue by HBoS being one major sign, any improvement will take some time to filter through to the property market due to the time lag between mortgage approvals and sales going through. Times are tough and many expect them to remain tough for some time.
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