27
Mar
'Drop' in home loans approved
Year-on-year figures released by the British Bankers Association
(BBA) have stated that the number of loans approved for mortgage
purposes have fallen.
In February, 43,870 mortgages were agreed by lenders, it said,
which was a 33.2 per cent drop on statistics for the corresponding
month in 2007.
However, remortgaging deals are increasingly popular among
homeowners, the BBA stated, as 72,000 of these were given the green
light in February, up by 5.5 per cent from the same month last
year.
Statistics director at the firm David Dooks commented that the
recent credit crunch has almost certainly persuaded more people to
change their deals, as they look to come off variable-rate
products.
"In an environment of tightening lending criteria, remortgaging -
either to fix, refix, or reduce borrowing costs - has been a clear
influence on mortgage data in the first two months of this year,"
he observed.
Governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King has remarked that he
would be "surprised" if house prices are higher than they are
currently a few years down the line.