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Mortgage lending to house buyers is still subdued, according to the British
Bankers' Association.
Its latest figures show that the number of mortgages approved last month by the
big banks was 35,275, slightly higher than in January when 35,154 loans to home
buyers were approved.
The BBA said the market was still depressed by a rush by buyers to beat the end
of the stamp duty holiday at the end of last year.
BBA spokesman David Dooks explained: "House purchase approvals were some 16%
higher than in February last year but still well below the figure in December as
the aftermath of the year-end change to stamp duty was still working through.
"The average value of house purchase approvals (£140,800) was 11.5% higher than
a year ago.
"Volumes of remortgaging and equity withdrawal approvals continued to be lower
than a year earlier."
In February 2009, mortgage approvals stood at 30,457 as lending started to
recover steadily through the year.
That upward trend has been brought to a halt as a result of the stamp duty
threshold being brought back down from £175,000 to £125,000.
Source:
Getting Paid
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