Mortgage approvals jump 19%

31 March 2009

The number of mortgages approved rose significantly in February, according to new figures from the Bank of England.

As The Times reports, 37,937 mortgages were approved for home purchase in February - a jump of some 19% from January`s figure of 31,791. The Bank pointed out that this was the highest figure since May 2008, and far above the six-month average (31,500).

While some economists saw this as an indication that the worst may be over in the housing market, others were more cautious.

UK economist at Capital Economics, Vicky Redwood said that house prices wouldn`t stop falling until activity levels had risen considerably further:

"Housing market activity may finally have turned a corner," she said. "This might suggest that the pick-up in new buyer enquiries is feeding through into actual activity. With new buyer enquiries still rising, this is clearly quite promising.

"However, approvals have a long way to go before they get to levels that are no longer consistent with falling house prices."

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