Mortgage approvals for home buying go up in February

Mortgage approvals for home buying go up in February

	Published : Mon, 27 Mar 2006 15:20 By : Cedric Benson Print this Story

LONDON: The number of new mortgage approvals for home buyers has gone up in February, indicating the revival in the property market is still on. The British Bankers Association said nearly 58,000 new mortgages were approved during the month, which is 28 per cent higher than in January and 22 per cent higher than a year ago.

BBA said the number of loans agreed but not yet completed, totalled 57,585 in February, up from 45,039 in January and compared with 47,084 loans agreed a year earlier.

In money terms, February's gross lending stood at 14 billion pounds, which is a record for February. BBA said seasonally adjusted net mortgage lending (gross lending minus repayments and redemptions) rose by 4.4 billion pounds, compared with 4.6 billion pounds in January and 4.8 billion pounds in February 2005.

Reports from lenders like the Halifax and the Nationwide say that house prices are rising again.

David Dooks, BBA's director of statistics, said the comparative weakness of the mortgage market in the first half of 2005 means that current indicators of activity -- like gross lending and approvals -- are stronger than they were a year ago. "But they are by no means yet approaching the levels of activity seen in 2004," he added.

The Bank of England will come out with the seasonally adjusted mortgage lending data for February on 29 March 29.

BBA said consumer credit remained subdued, with credit card lending totalling 6,723 million in February, falling by 14 per cent from the previous month. New lending on personal loans and overdrafts was lower than the average for the previous six months at 2,609 million pounds and after seasonal adjustment, net lending showed an increase of 498 million pounds.

Dooks said within consumer credit, card borrowing continues to be modest by historical standards, in line with current sentiment on the high street, though there is moderate, stable demand for personal loans and overdrafts.