Mortgage Approvals Down in April
The latest figures show that: –
- Mortgage approvals on house purchases for April sat at 60,463 down (-4.9%) from 63,603 in March. This signals four consecutive months of decline.
- Approvals are also lower (-2.1%) than the 61,740 seen in April 2024.
- Despite the decline, there is still optimism for growth in the coming months, especially if further bank rate cuts materialise and lenders continue to lower their mortgage rates.
Stephanie Daley, Director of Partnerships at mortgage advisor, Alexander Hall, commented:
“So far this year, we’ve seen an average of around 64,000 mortgages being approved on a monthly basis which is the highest level seen since 2001 and really highlights just how strongly the market is currently performing despite volumes cooling on a monthly basis.
The marginal monthly decline in approval volumes is simply a case of the market resetting in the run up to, and immediately following, the stamp duty deadline at the end of March and won’t derail the momentum that has been building consistently over the last 12 months.
Whilst the Bank of England is largely expected to hold interest rates this month, this is unlikely to dampen the enthusiasm of the nation’s homebuyers, who are now acting with far greater confidence since interest rates have been trending downwards, following the suit of many lenders who have re-introduced sub 4% rates for the first time in a long time.”
CEO of specialist lender Octane Capital, Jonathan Samuels, commented:
“A month on month reduction in mortgage approvals was always on the cards in April, as the market paused for breath following a period of heightened activity driven by the rush to beat another stamp duty deadline.
However, we’ve since seen a surge of buyer activity from those who have been waiting for the dust to settle and this renewed activity has only intensified since the Bank of England cut interest rates to 4.25% at the beginning of May.
As a result, we can expect to see mortgage approvals levels trend upward over the coming months as business resumes as normal.”
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