Approvals for mortgages improve

According to companies such as Abbey, Barclays, HSBC, Sainsburys Bank, Alliance & Leicester, Mortgage Express, Standard Life and Northern Rock the property market is going to be buoyant in the near future.

This is supported by the fact that The Bank of England showed the number of new approved mortgages improved in January 2007.

The total amount of new mortgages that were approved increased by approximately 5% to 120,000, just under the average for June – December 2006.

These figures do support the argument that 3 increases in interest rates since Summer 2006 have not had a major lasting impact on the demand for mortgages and for house buying.

An expert from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, David Stubbs, said “The strong economic growth and rising employment, enjoyed by the UK at present, is supporting housing demand, even in the face of recent increases in interest rates.”