Investment Property News - Bueno Investments Limited

A surprise increase in January house purchase mortgage approvals and a hike in remortgaging activity has led experts to suggest the credit crunch has failed to affect the lending ability of the major banks.

The British Bankers' Association (BBA) said the number of mortgages approved for people buying a home rose to 44,288 last month - an improvement on the record low seen in December.

Borrowers coming off two and three-year fixed-rate deals have sparked a rise in the number of remortgage approvals to 79,016, up 17% on December and up 39% year-on-year, the BBA said.

Allan Monks, economist at JP Morgan, said: "The rise provides some tentative signs that we may be close to the bottom of the current slowing in house purchase activity."

But he warned there could be further gloom for the housing market in the coming months.

House prices fell for a fifth month in a row during February, suggesting that activity is still slowing, according to property information group Hometrack.

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http://www.buenoinvestments.com/uk_property_investment.php (UK property)

http://www.bba.org.uk/bba/jsp/polopoly.jsp;jsessionid=aJ5BVWWhz3Eg?d=103 (BBA)