UK mortgage approvals slightly higher in January, BoE data shows
UK mortgage approvals were slightly higher in January than a month ago, according to the latest Bank of England data.
January saw 60,789 mortgage approvals, up from December's 60,300 and a four-month high.
However, approvals were 19.62% below the 74-month high of 75,559 seen in January 2014.
"The marked falling back of mortgage approvals from the January 2014 peak level was clearly initially influenced appreciably by the introduction of the new Mortgage Market Review (MMR) regulations that came into effect in late April," said Howard Archer, chief European and UK economist at IHS Economics.
"These regulations put greater onus on mortgage lenders to assess the ability of potential borrowers to meet their initial and future (based on higher interest rates) mortgage payments."
The figures followed Nationwide's house price index which registered a 0.1% drop in average house prices in February compared to January.
The year-on-year rise in average prices moderated to a 17-month low of 5.7% for February.