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more loans for house purchase
June 23, 2009
Mortgage lending to buyers rose again in May in according the British Bankers Association (BBA).
Total mortgage lending has been subdued recently, but that is largely a reflection of a huge fall in re-mortgaging as low interest rates encourage borrowers to revert to their lender's standard rate rather than moving to a new lender.
Lending to buyers, in contrast, has risen recently. The BBA estimates that the value of mortgage applications from buyers approved in May rose to £4.0 billion in May, up from £3.6 billion in April and well above the average for the last six months of £3.1 billion. The number of loans approved was up from 29,0000 in April to over 31,000 in May. That is about 6,000 more approvals per month than the average since December last year (25,000 a month).
The BBA says: "The number of house purchase approvals and their average value has risen steadily in the last six months, reflecting some improvement in lenders ability to lend".