March Mortgage Approvals down 6.8% BBA says

Cannon_Fodder

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8020201.stm
The number of mortgages approved for house purchases fell to 26,097 in March, down 6.8% from February and 25% lower than a year earlier.

official release from BBA;
http://www.bba.org.uk/bba/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=145&a=15821
http://www.bba.org.uk/content/1/c6/01/58/20/March_2009_Monthly_Statistics_Release.pdf

"March’s approval activity, both in volume and value, was marginally lower than in February and remains at a historically subdued level."

"Annual change in House Purchase value -18.6%"

themanbearpig

"Striking a blow to talk of housing market recovery"

At least this will shut up the bulls for a day

ad9898_3

You beat me to it CF, by 2 mins. You win.;)

inspector_monkfish

09:30 27Apr09 BBA: UK MAR NET MORTGAGE LENDING GBP3.7B VS GBP3.9B IN FEB
09:30 27Apr09 BBA: UK MAR MORTGAGE APPROVALS 26,097 VS 28,024 IN FEB
09:30 27Apr09 BBA: UK MAR GROSS MORTGAGE LENDING GBP8.9B VS GBP9.2B IN FEB
09:30 27Apr09 BBA: UK MAR LENDING TO BUSINESS -GBP1.0B VS +GBP1.1B IN FEB
09:43 27Apr09 BBA: UK Mtge Lending, Approvals Weaken In March


LONDON -- U.K. mortgage lending and approvals weakened in March as
the deepening recession weighed on confidence in the beleaguered housing market,
data released by the British Bankers' Association showed Monday.

Net mortgage lending eased to GBP3.7 billion in March from GBP3.9 billion in
February, although it was higher than the average gain over the previous six
months of GBP3.5 billion.

Approvals of mortgages for house purchase - a good forward-looking indicator
for market activity - fell to 26,097 from 28,024 in February. The total was
higher than the average of the previous six months of 23,152, but weaker than the
34,920 mortgages approved in March 2008.

Gross mortgage lending slipped to GBP8.9 billion last month from GBP9.2
billion in February, leaving it 47.2% weaker on the year and below the average of
the previous six months of GBP10.4 billion , the BBA said.

Web site: www.bba.org.uk

Graham_Devon

themanbearpig wrote: »

"Striking a blow to talk of housing market recovery"

At least this will shut up the bulls for a day

LOL! You think?

This won't count, and will be good for them

Dan:_4

You can't expect to see mortgage approvals increase every month, even in times when we are not in recession.

Rochdale_Pioneers

Dan: wrote: »

You can't expect to see mortgage approvals increase every month, even in times when we are not in recession.

No, but you'd be nuts to see this as the positive sign of a recovery. Once we get next month's numbers then we can plot the trend. This month is either an expected blip on the recovery we've seen, or that recovery now faltering.

Andrew64

You can't read too much into one month's figures. The quarterly figures should give a better idea of what's going on.

Dan:_4

Rochdale_Pioneers wrote: »

No, but you'd be nuts to see this as the positive sign of a recovery. Once we get next month's numbers then we can plot the trend. This month is either an expected blip on the recovery we've seen, or that recovery now faltering.

I don't really expect to see any real recovery until sometime next year. Prices are likely to fall further by end of this year, but I doubt by much.

Cannon_Fodder

Pundit at the Stock Exchange, interviewed by BBC, said Banks are approving at around the same rate, 75% or so, "as normal".

"Its the activity that is down" - so maybe the Great British public, just like some are being sensible in paying down debt/mortgages, are also being sensible in avoiding taking on huge debt during a recession that could see them lose their job.

Shame the biggest debtors are going to screw up the country before they lose their jobs...

ad9898_3

Andrew64 wrote: »

You can't read too much into one month's figures. The quarterly figures should give a better idea of what's going on.

I do agree with this, I've been saying the same things about house price trends in the last few weeks, although having said that the media love ramping one month's worth of 'positive' news, I wonder if they will do the same with this ? Can anyone see the front page of the Daily Express tomorrow..... 'Mortgage approvals decline as the crash continues', I think it probably won't happen.:rolleyes: