House purchase approvals broadly reflect a steady housing market says BBA
The latest statistical news release from the BBA ‘March 2017 figures for the high street banks’ released 28th April 2017.
The BBA states: Gross mortgage borrowing in March totalled £13.2bn much in line with recent months. Net mortgage borrowing in March was 2.2% higher than a year ago.
House purchase approval numbers of 41,061 were 2.8% lower than in February 2017 but in line with the monthly average of 41,600 over the previous six months.
Remortgaging numbers of 24,657 were 2% higher than in March 2016 but lower than in recent months and a little lower than the 2016 average of 26,000.
Eric Leenders, BBA Managing Director for Retail Banking said: “In March, annual growth in consumer borrowing from the main high street banks* slowed, perhaps mirroring the dip seen in retail sales volumes as price rises appear to have started biting into consumers’ spending.
House purchase approvals were largely in line with last year’s average, broadly reflecting a steady housing market.
Business lending increased in March across a number of sectors including construction, manufacturing, retail and wholesale, and utilities.”
Read the BBA March 2017 figures for the high street banks statistical release in full click here.