Mortgage Approvals 18mth Low

Mortgage Approvals 18mth Low.

The Bank of England has released figures showing that mortgage approvals by all banks and building societies in July fell by over 3200 compared to June.

The 5% fall in mortgage approvals in just 1 month, given that the summer is usually the busiest property period has been attributed to the fallout from the Brexit vote.

Many commentators, estate agents and surveyors are pessimistic about the property market in the short term.  These latest figures of just under 61,000 mortgage approvals have been falling since the high earlier this year at over 70,000 approvals per month.

Consumer confidence is still low despite articles suggesting it is improving this month.  The Consumer Confidence Index is still in negative territory at around -8.0 rather the positive +4.1 in December 2015.  That means confidence is around 12% lower than it was.  That is still a huge swing despite journalists suggesting confidence is higher.

Comment

Property prices will fall over the next year or two, but longer term there will be still be a housing shortage as the population increases.  Simple supply and deman econonics will drive property prices higher.  We saw in one report this week, that the average UK property will double by 2030.