Mortgage demand continues upward trend

The report showed that gross mortgage lending for July totalled £21.3 billion – a 12 per cent increase from the July 2006 results. The study also showed that there were 182,950 mortgage approvals for July, with an aggregate value of £21.5 billion. The study also showed that the average loan approved reached £156,900, 13 per cent higher than the July 2006 findings.

Overall, the BBA indicated that underlying net mortgage lending rose by £5.7 billion, up from the June increase of £5.4 billion. It also revealed that annual underlying net mortgage lending growth reached 14 per cent.

David Dooks, BBA director of statistics, said: “With customers seeking to replace deals or fix their costs, increased remortgaging activity boosted lending in July. Lower approvals volumes simply reflected the seasonal pattern, so we expect the stable trend in the banks’ lending to continue.”

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), in its own assessment of the market, indicated that gross mortgage lending was up to £34.4 billion, a drop from the June findings. However the trade body believed that the industry was on course to reach a record £360 billion worth of mortgage lending by the year end.