Mortgage lending collapses
Mortgage applications have fallen to a record low. Bank of England figures today show that there was the largest net repayment of mortgage debt last month since records began in 1993. Over the last 12 months, net lending has averaged £679m - only one-fourteenth of the £9.56bn average we saw at the peak of the market. Moreover, there's no sign of any pick-up. Mortgage approvals, a lead indictor of lending in a few weeks time, fell to their lowest level since March 2009.
Gross lending that is weak, running at barely one-third what it was at its peak in 2007. If you are an estate agent or somebody banking on rising house prices for whatever reason - this is not good news.
