Mortgage approvals on house purchases for April sit at 61,140 down marginally from 61,263 in March. However, they remain considerably higher than the 48,587 seen in April 2023.
It’s also only the second month they have exceeded 61,000 per month since August 2022 following six previous consecutive months of upward growth. Nathan Emerson, CEO at Propertymark, said:
“Propertymark hopes to see a Bank of England interest rate cut next month as affordability is still proving to be a massive barrier for many aspiring buyers and sellers. With party manifestos being published very soon, we hope to see policies that address and help tackle the country’s ongoing housing crisis.”
Sushant Lall, Chief Growth Officer of Target Group, said that this is “encouraging news” which “should give us cause for cautious optimism”. He continued:
“April’s statistics seem to show a small but steady increase in net mortgage approvals, following on March’s findings that approvals were at their highest level since September 2022. Perhaps even better is that today’s statistics show the annual growth rate for net mortgage lending rose for the first time since October 2022.
But statistics for May will be telling. Will they show a further increase in approvals, reflecting the lower inflation rate? Or will homebuyers now play ‘wait and see’ following the General Election announcement? Borrowers will no doubt be pinning their hopes on some stability in the market. Whatever happens, it is clear that the Government needs to work on a significant overhaul of how the housing and mortgage market works. As an industry, what we can do in the meantime is to work together to support lenders and borrowers with a service based on fast and reliable technology systems which put the customer first.”
Director of My Home Move Conveyancing, Alistair Singer, commented:
“Another strong month of mortgage approvals demonstrates that buyer confidence is building despite the fact that interest rates are yet to come down.
With a cut expected in the coming months, we should see a further surge in activity as buyer confidence is bolstered by the first reduction to interest rates in four years.
With a stable and strengthening housing market, any election activity is unlikely to have a material impact on momentum. Indeed, depending on the outcome, we often get a post-election bounce so we expect the market to strengthen further as the year progresses. Although it’s important to note that as the market does heat up, the time it takes to transact is likely to increase as higher demand puts strain on operational efficiency and market capacity including the conveyancing process”
CEO of Octane Capital, Jonathan Samuels, said that the current market performance indicates that the mortgage sector is “set for a strong year” following a period of “muted activity spurred by higher interest rates”.
“Despite the fact that a rate reduction is yet to materialise, we’ve seen buyer activity build since the base rate has been held and this is likely to continue with a potential cut on the horizon.
Buyers are still advised to act with caution and not to overstretch when looking to secure a mortgage, however, the likelihood is that in the mid to long term, mortgage rates are set to come down.”
