UK Mortgage Approvals Hit 14-month High in July

UK mortgage approvals hit 14-month high in July, but financial experts are still skeptical about the prospects of UK mortgage market.

The report published by the Bank of England suggests that UK banks and building societies have approved the highest number of mortgages in July since May 2010.

As such, in July the number of approved mortgages reached 49,239, up from 49,000 forecasted by analysts and 48,5000 registered in June 2011.

However, such a high reading is not a reason to say that the UK mortgage market has reached its pre-downturn level, thinks Andrew Goodwin of Ernst & Young ITEM Club. He is determined that "although this might have been a 14-month high, it’s still very low in a historical context and the market remains essentially stagnant. Similarly, lending levels remain just a fraction of long-term averages."

In the opinion of Mr. Goodwin, the UK housing and mortgage market will only get back on track when lending conditions improve, which is not going to happen any time soon.