Mortgage lending drops sharply following the Brexit vote.
The housing market slowed down in July as the lowest number of mortgages were taken out since January 2015. According to the Bank of England, 60,912 mortgages were approved in July 2016, which was a decrease of 5% from the previous month and a 12.4% decrease from July of last year.
Remortgaging
This is despite the interest rate of the average new fixed-rate mortgage standing at just 2.31%. Mortgage rates are now at the lowest level since records began in 2004, with the Bank of England’s decision to cut base rates aiding the decrease. Many existing homeowners have opted to remortgage as a result of the lower interest rates though, as they aim for a better deal. There were 43,084 remortgages recorded in July of this year; an 11.7% increase on July 2015.
Economy Impacting the Housing Market
Should the economy slow down over the next few months, the housing market will face consequences too. Should inflation rise, or we see an increase in unemployment, the chance of household borrowing will not improve. You can read more about the state of the housing market on The Telegraph website.
