Mortgage approvals drop in additional signal of housing market slowdown

Mortgage approvals dropped nearly 10% final month, new Bank of England figures present.

The internet lower – from 54,600 in June to 49,400 in July – is a five-month low and worse than anticipated. A ballot of economists predicted the determine can be round 51,000.

It comes following a string of figures from lenders and property companies which counsel the housing market is slowing down.

Leading property web site Zoopla stated on Wednesday morning that the UK was on monitor for round a million home and flat gross sales by the tip of this 12 months – the bottom degree since 2012.

Experts have warned that excessive rates of interest and the price of residing disaster are having an affect on affordability for a lot of.

The Bank of England’s month-to-month cash and credit score report, revealed on Wednesday, additionally discovered that the amount of cash borrowed by shoppers fell to £1.2bn in July, down from a five-year excessive in June.

Households deposited an extra £0.4bn with banks and constructing societies in the identical month – down sharply on £3.8bn in June. That seems to counsel people’ funds have gotten extra stretched, commentators stated.

Meanwhile, internet borrowing of mortgage debt elevated for the third consecutive month to £0.2bn in July, whereas approvals for remortgaging elevated barely from 39,100 to 39,300 throughout the identical interval.

The common two-year fastened residential mortgage fee is at present 6.72%, whereas the five-year fee is 6.21%, in line with Moneyfacts.

But consultants stated the total results of the newest rises have been but to be felt.

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The “effective” rate of interest – the precise rate of interest paid – on newly drawn mortgages was 4.66% in July, the Bank of England stated.

Andrew Wishart, a senior property economist from Capital Economics, stated: “The decline in mortgage approvals to a five-month low in July showed the renewed surge in mortgage rates since April has begun to take its toll.

“But given the lag between quoted mortgage charges and approvals, the total affect is unlikely to change into clear till September.

“It takes two to three months for developments in quoted mortgage rates to feed through to housing market activity… so further falls in mortgage approvals lie ahead.”

Alice Haine, a private finance analyst at Bestinvest, stated: “Mortgage lending is likely to remain weak over the coming months as buyer demand and spending power continues to get pummelled by soaring interest rates and high living costs.

“Average mortgage charges might have now softened from their July peak, however that can do little to ease the stress and anxiousness for brand spanking new patrons desperately making an attempt to safe their first deal or these trying to refinance who face considerably greater compensation ranges.

“As affordability challenges mount, property prices will come under increasing pressure, forcing sellers to market their homes more competitively if they want to secure a sale.”