October slowdown for mortgage market

New Bank of England figures reveal that banks and building societies made 64,602 approvals for mortgages in October ahead of the postponed Oct 31 departure date for leaving the European Union. That was 2% lower than the previous month and the weakest since March. Samuel Tombs at Pantheon Macroeconomics said: “October’s drop in mortgage approvals looks like the type of stutter usually seen before general elections. We expect approvals to rebound in the first quarter, when political uncertainty should have declined.” The average rate on new mortgages is 1.96%, compared to the 2.39% average on existing home loans.

The Daily Telegraph (29/11/2019)