The Bank of England (BoE) has reported a sharp fall in mortgage lending during the month of July as activity in the housing market remained subdued.
June’s figure for net lending was £500,000,000 and forecasts for the month were £700,000,000. However, net lending in June reached a total of just £86,000,000.
This figure is the second lowest ever recorded since the records began in 1993.
On the plus side, there was an unexpected rise in the number of mortgages approved and the amount of consumer credit. The figures are a slight improvement on June’s figures but were still in defiance of analysts’ predictions of a fall.
A leading economist stated that the figures backed up the forecasts of a fall in house prices in late 2010 and early 2011.