BOE: Mortgage approvals up in July

Posted: 02 Sep 2009 09:20:39 GMT

More mortgages were approved and a greater number of remortgages were made in Britain in July, new figures show.

According to the Bank of England, loan approvals for house purchases reached 50,123 during the course of the month.

Remortgaging was recorded at 35,206, meaning that both figures were above the six-month average.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) responded positively to the data, saying the rise in the number of mortgage approvals "is testament to the continuing recovery in the housing market".

However, it warned that there was a "sharp fall in net lending during the month", which shows that lenders are still hesitant to boost the total amount of money they commit to the mortgage market.

The statement from Rics added that the group is expecting mortgage approval figures to edge up over the coming months to end the year at a level of around 55,000-60,000 approvals a month.


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