The latest mortgage approvals data from the British Bankers’ Association has been released for October and the data shows that the number of British homebuyers applying for a mortgage increased from 38.5k to nearly 39.7k month on month.
While this is still slightly lower than the 40,488 recorded this time last year, the uplift in buyer appetite is a positive sign in what has been an unpredictable year for the UK property market.
This increase in buyer demand builds on more positive news at the other end of the home-selling cycle, released by the Land Registry last week. The latest data for property transactions shows that despite slower market conditions, the number of homes sold in October increased by 4% when compared to September, and a notable 12% compared to this time last year.
This growing market sentiment has been widely attributed to strong regional performances outside of London and the South East and demonstrates the continued optimism of UK buyers and sellers, despite the protracted process of Britain leaving the EU.
Although the traditional festive slowdown in market activity is on the horizon, it is expected that the market will meet industry expectations and finish the year in similar health to 2018.
Our Business Expert and Yomdel CEO, Andy Soloman, commented on the latest industry findings:
“Yet another welcomed surprise for the UK housing market with this latest uplift pushing the level of mortgage approvals to its highest point since June.
This demonstrates yet further signs of confidence in the market when coupled with last week’s positive movement in transaction levels, and is hardly surprising given the continued affordability of mortgage products available.
It would seem that, like many of us, UK buyers and sellers have had enough of hearing about Brexit as this growing market momentum defies wider economic and political uncertainty.
However, we are currently entering the eye of the storm with a Brexit deal almost over the line, so it will be interesting to see how this translates to buyer appetite as the year comes to a close.”
