The property market looks to be rebounding back to normal, as the Bank of England has reported that the number of mortgages approved for those buying a new home has more than doubled during the past year, according to The Daily Telegraph.
November saw a total of 60,518 loans for house purchase being agreed upon, with more than double the record low of 27,162 that occurred in November 2008. The highest recorded number of mortgages approvals before then was in March 2008.
Net lending, which strips out redemptions and repayments saw an increase of ?1.46 billion, a figure that was reached in February last year. This is also the third consecutive month that an increase has happened.
It?s not all good news though, with approvals 40 per cent lower than their pre-credit crisis average, which was around 100,000.
Seema Shah, a property economist employed by Capital Economics, said: ?We are sceptical that the recovery in housing market activity will gain much momentum in 2010. That seems consistent with our expectation of a weak economic recovery, accompanied by further falls in employment, pay freezes and tighter fiscal policy. Against such a backdrop, we doubt that buyer interest will strengthen significantly.?
However, it?s the traditional lull in the housing market during the Christmas holidays that building societies blame for the decline in mortgage lending.
The Building Societies Association said that gross mortgage lending dropped from ?1.7 billion in October to ?1.6 billion in November. Adrian Coles, BSA director-general, said: ?Lending activity is likely to remain relatively depressed in 2010 until funding and supply conditions improve.?
