Mortgage approvals went up by four percent during March, fuelling speculation that the housing market is returning to normality.
There was positive news for the mortgage market today (May 1st) as the Bank of England revealed that mortgage approvals rose by four percent during March, reaching 39,230.
In total, £4.6 billion in house purchase loans was approved during the month, far above the six-month average. Lending to individuals increased by £1.5 billion.
There have been a number of positive reports for the property market in recent weeks, although commentators have warned against over-optimism. Nationwide reported a small increase in house prices during March, although this was slightly reversed in the building society's figures for April.
Additionally, figures out from the Land Registry this week showed that prices fell by 0.4 percent during March and by 16.2 percent compared with the same month in 2008.
"The slight rise in the number of new mortgage approvals from 38,000 to 39,000 in March was a bit better than expected and will fuel recent talk that the housing market has stabilised," Jonathan Loynes from Capital Economics told the BBC. "But approvals remain at a level consistent with further sharp falls in house prices."
A lack of mortgage availability has been one of the consequences of the credit crunch and has been a symptom in the ill-health of the property market.
