Mortgage approvals up in December

28 January 2009

Figures from the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) have shown that the number of mortgage approvals rose in December.

Mortgage approvals stood at 22,000 in the final month of 2008, up from 17,000 in November – a rise of about 30%.

According to the BBA, the rise was likely to reflect delayed activity from November, rather than a real recovery in lending.

The BBA’s figures also showed that mortgage approvals in 2008 had fallen by 52% compared with 2007.

A mortgage expert for Think Money said: “It’s too early to tell what these figures might indicate for the mortgage market, but the reduction of several lenders’ fixed-rate mortgage rates in recent weeks could suggest that some lenders are becoming more optimistic.”

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Tags: mortgage, mortgage approvals, british bankers association, bank, fixed rate mortgage, mortgage rates, fixed rate, fixed rates, mortgage market

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