New mortgages approvals show small rise
by Gill Montia
The British Bankers’ Association has reported a small increase in the number of mortgages for house purchases approved in April, which rose to 38,704, compared with March’s record low of 35,546.
The figure is well below the average of the past six months and 39.4% down on April 2007.
While last month’s rise shows promise, analysts are not interpreting it as signs of a recovery in the housing market, which has been weakened by the tighter lending criteria imposed by banks struggling with the credit crisis, and a lack of confidence.
Remortgaging saw a 20% rise in April (compared with April 2007) fuelled by homeowners coming to the end of fixed-rate terms and those seeking better deals.
Mortgage approvals for equity release and other purposes were down 26% on April 2007, at 33,720.
Meanwhile, a report from credit rating agency, Standard & Poor’s, states that the proportion of homeowners with sound credit ratings who are over 30 days in arrears with mortgage repayments rose to 2.4% in the first three months of 2008, up from 2.1% in the previous quarter.
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