When will mortgage approvals stop falling?
While nobody expect August mortgage figures to show any improvement there were few who suggested that we would see approvals sink as low as 21,086 for the month which is less than two thirds of the average for the last 6 months. The net mortgage figure for the month has also fallen to some £2.1 billion which is well down on the figure of £4.8 billion for July and the £4.7 billion average for the last 6 months. So are we seeing the end of the fall or just the next stage?
You have to say that the figures in themselves are worrying and while there was a small impact as people waited for news about the changes in the stamp duty regulations, this was not enough to cause such a collapse. House prices themselves are still falling, buyers are going on strike in many areas of the country but will the much covered US bail out help the UK sector?
While the US bail out itself will have little first hand impact on the UK market it will allow money markets around the world to get back to 'normal' but more importantly it will instil more confidence into the system. As we have mentioned on a number of occasions there needs to be a return of confidence in the financial sector, property and governments around the world before markets have any chance of a sustained recovery.
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