August purchase approvals highest in 13 years

October 6, 2020 by Brendan O'Neill

Property Market

According to the latest Bank of England figures, the number of property purchase approvals during August was the highest in 13 years, providing further evidence for the revival of the housing market.

These figures reveal that a total of 84,715 mortgage loans to enable people to buy property were approved throughout the course of August, in comparison to the 66,288 total for July. As well as representing a major month-on-month increase, the number of approvals for August was also the highest the market has witnessed since October of 2007, which produced a total of 86,010.

Not all of the news for the UK property market was quite as positive as this, as the Bank of England figures also show that there was a decline in the amount of applications for remortgaging loans during August. Indeed, the total for the month – 33,390 – was close to that of May, which was the worst month for the market so far this year.

However, the overall figure for mortgage approvals during August was 129,424, which is very close to the number for most months during 2019. The 2020 total of 418,000 represents a dip of 20% on the figure at the same point in the year for 2019, but this drop is inevitable given that the housing market was essentially closed for three months in March, April and May while the lockdown was in full force.

There are signs that the housing market is regaining strength and that means CeMAP mortgage advisor training should remain attractive.