There were 185,311 loans approved for a total value of £11,197 million in November, and although this was one per cent fewer by number than in October, the value was four per cent higher.
Loans for house purchase totalled 79,797 in November, with a total value of £6,320 million. This was three per cent less than in October by number, but the total value was two per cent per cent higher. The BBA said that this could be explained because the value of the average loan rose by £3,800 to £79,200, which was 12 per cent higher than a year earlier.
Approvals of loans for re-mortgaging were two per cent higher by number and nine per cent higher by value than in the previous month totalling 48,603 with a total value of £3,844 million.
Ian Mullen, chief executive of the BBA, said: "If the pattern of demand for new mortgages through the year-end follows that seen in previous years, then November’s figures will be followed by weaker data in the next couple of months. However, loan approvals continue, at least by value, to hold up, suggesting that the mortgage market may be more resilient than in past years. Consumer credit was again robust and consistent with November’s strong retail sales figures, though card borrowing largely resulted from lower repayments."
