UK mortgage approvals declined for the third straight month in April to an eight-month low, as lending for property purchases moderated, data from the British Bankers Association showed Tuesday. Mortgage approvals for house purchases fell to 42,173 in April from 45,045 in March.
Approvals were below the expected level of 45,100. The latest figure was the lowest since last August, when approvals totalled 39,597. Mortgage assistance schemes helped first-time buyers and housing chains generally through the late months of last year.
Since the turn of the year, approvals numbers have moderated. Howard Archer, chief UK economist at IHS Global Insight, said the data suggests that the introduction of new regulations under the Mortgage Market Review has at least temporarily taken some of the steam out of housing market activity.
Article courtesy of Market Update: Residential Property | Morningstar.
