"Households continuing to repay virtually as much as they borrow and, as people hold on to cash, deposits are growing by 6 percent annually"
- David Dooks, BBA statistics director
The number of mortgages approved in the U.K. soared to the highest level since January last month, a sign nation's property market is stabilising. The British Bankers' Association said that lenders granted 33,634 approvals in November, up from 33,128 in the preceding month. Total mortgage lending reached £7.7 billion, which is significantly above the monthly average. At the same time, net mortgage lending rocketed to 164 million pounds, almost doubling previous month's reading of an 89 million pound increase.
"Households continuing to repay virtually as much as they borrow and, as people hold on to cash, deposits are growing by 6 percent annually," said David Dooks, BBA statistics director. "The situation is not dissimilar in the business world; businesses are holding back investment or expansion plans and building up cash reserves."
"As has been the case over the last three years, the prospects for the London market will have an important bearing on overall house price growth in 2013. London continued to provide important support to headline trends in 2012. The question is whether this is a trend that can be maintained," said Richard Donnell, director of research at Hometrack.
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