The number of mortgages approved by British banks fell to an eight-month low in May, new figures show.
According to the British Bankers’ Association, there were of 40,347 mortgages approved in May, 3.3% lower than a year ago and slightly down on the monthly average of 41,923 over the previous six months.
Remortgaging approval numbers of 24,248 were 10% lower than in May 2016 and down on the monthly average of 26,494 over the previous six months.
Gross mortgage borrowing in May totalled £13.3 billion, much in line with recent months and 9% higher than a year before.
Net mortgage borrowing in May was 2.4% higher than a year ago.
Jeremy Leaf, north London estate agent and a former RICS residential chairman, said: “At first glance you might think the BBA figures are quite encouraging but when you consider what was happening 12 months ago, one realises that they are not quite as impressive as they might seem. Last May the housing market was still reeling from the imposition of the 3% stamp duty surcharge on second homes so we would have expected approval numbers to have been considerably above where they were this time last year.
“Looking forward, there is no indication that we will see a bigger correction in the property market, just a continuation of what we have seen over the past few months – more cautious trading and more realism among buyers and sellers.”
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