The Bank of England has released data which shows that in September mortgage approvals were at their highest level since March 2008, BBC News has said.
September saw 56,000 loan approvals for house purchases ? an almost 6 per cent increase on the August figure of 53,000, and above the average for the last six months. The rise in mortgage approvals reflects the rise in sales completed so far in 2009, and approvals for mortgages are often thought to be a good measure of short-term trends in the property market.
However, property market experts struck a note of caution in reaction to the figures. Adrian Coles, of the Building Societies Association (BSA ), said: ?Lending activity has recovered in recent months, when compared to the start of the year, as buyers and sellers tentatively return to the market. However, lending is still at levels much below that of previous years, and the slight recovery remains fragile.?
Chief economist at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), Simon Rubinsohn, said: ?A little more money is now flowing through into the mortgage market. However, the ending of the stamp duty exemption on properties valued at ?175,000 or less at the end of December could hit activity levels particularly outside of London and the south east in the early part of 2010.?
There is a feeling that the figures are not robust enough against a weak economic background ? with the UK still in recession ? for the recovery to be sustained.
The rate of growth in lending for the last year was down by 0.1 per cent to 0.8 per cent. Remortgage approvals were lower in September to 25,500 than the August figure of 28,300.
