Mortgage approvals better than we had hoped
The Bank of England released mortgage approval data for January this morning
What the Bank of England said
Mortgage approvals for January 2023 were 39,637
This was 2.2% lower than the 40,540 mortgages approved in December 2022
This was 46.3% lower than the 73,879 mortgages approved in January 2022
Twindig take
Mortgage approvals data released today was much better than we had hoped for. Firstly the Bank of England revised up its mortgage approval data for December 2022 up from the 36,612 originally reported last month to 40,540 today an increase of 11%. Secondly, the January 2023 mortgage approvals at 39,637, whilst low, and lower than they were in December have not fallen off a cliff and the rate of decline has slowed.
We are wary of reading too much into one month's data, but our initial thoughts are that January 2023 may be the low point for mortgage approvals, and this will be welcome news for all businesses linked to the level of housing market activity.