Market comment

Rebound in UK mortgage approvals a false dawn for housing market

DAVY VIEW

March’s lending data showed an unexpected rebound in mortgage approvals to 52,000. However, the average approval is still down 6.5% at £212,000 – demonstrating that rate hikes will have a slow-burn negative impact on the housing market in 2023. Markets currently expect that the Bank of England will eventually raise its rate to 4.75%. The data also showed a very limited outflow of deposits in the wake of the failure of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and that households are turning to credit card debt to sustain spending in the face of elevated CPI inflation.

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May 5 2023, 07:00 IST/BST

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