UK Mortgage Approvals and Consumer Credit: Navigating Turbulent Housing Trends

UK Mortgage Approvals/Consumer Credit (Oct) – 29/11 – the first half of this year saw a modest improvement in mortgage approvals, after they hit a low of 39.6k back in January. The slowdown towards the end of last year was due to the sharp rise in interest rates which weighed on demand for property as well as house prices.

As energy prices have come down, along with lower rates, demand for mortgages picked up again peaking in June as approvals rising to 54.6k.

It's been downhill since then with the sharp rise in rates during the summer months, prompting a sharp fall-off which saw approvals fall to 43.3k in September, and the lowest number this year.

We have seen interest rates come down since the summer which might offer some respite to the housing market, however recent housing data would appear to suggest that consumers are holding back when it comes to the purchase of a new house.

Net consumer credit has been slightly more resilient coming in at £1.4bn in September, which hasn't been dissimilar to previous months. Although we are seeing inflationary pressures continuing to subside, wages have been holding up well, although the resilience in these numbers might suggest that consumers are adding to their levels of debt just to get by.