Mortgage approvals `double` in December
28 January 2010
According to figures from the British Bankers` Association (BBA), British banks doubled the number of mortgages they approved in December, compared with the same month a year earlier, The Times reports.
It seems the end of the stamp duty holiday sparked a `rush to buy among first-time buyers` - with mortgage approvals that might have occurred in January and February taking place in December instead.
The BBA revealed that 45,897 mortgage applications were approved in December, which was slightly higher than the 44,965 seen in November - and up a full 102.2% from the figure recorded a year earlier.
David Dooks, the statistics director for the BBA, said: "The high street banks continued to lend substantial amounts in the weaker mortgage market of 2009, approving more than 440,000 loans for house purchase."
Meanwhile, there has been a significant decline in remortgaging, as many borrowers have decided to remain on their bank`s standard variable rate mortgage once their fixed-rate deal came to an end.
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Tags: mortgage, approvals, BBA
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