Mortgage Applications

Mortgage applications are an economic indicator reflecting the state of the housing market. In the UK, The Mortgage Approvals published by the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) measure the number of home loans issued by the BBA during the previous quarter. It is considered as a leading indicator of the UK Housing Market.
A growing mortgage growth indicates a robust housing market and is positive for the British Pound. The number of loan approvals for house purchase in the United Kingdom fell to 39.507 thousand in November 2017 from a revised 40.417 thousand in the previous month and below market expectations of 40.472 thousand. It was the lowest level since August last year, following the Bank of England’s decision to raise interest rates for the first time in more than a decade.
Net mortgage lending went up by GBP 1.853 billion in November, compared with a GBP 1.873 billion gain in October. Mortgage Applications in the United Kingdom averaged 51672.34 Units from 1997 until 2017, reaching an all-time high of 93237 Units in March of 2002 and a record low of 17094 Units in November of 2008. As of January 2017, when the figure of the UK mortgage approvals peaked with a reading of 44897K, the trend for the mortgage approvals in the UK is a declining trend, which also signals the influence of the Brexit to the consumer confidence, as when consumer confidence is declining people will tend to lower their spending, and a new house is a large amount of spending indicative of the consumer confidence level about the broader economic conditions.