Housing activity quietens in 2023

Mortgage approvals slid by 4.6% on a quarterly basis – indicating that it was a quieter market in the first three months of 2023.

There were some 136,023 mortgages approved during the period.

This was the second decline following a reduction of 29.2% between Q3 and Q4 of 2022 after September’s disastrous mini budget.

The figures come from the Bank of England.

Jonathan Samuels, chief executive of Octane Capital, said: “While the property market had been showing gradual signs of cooling over the last year, this certainly culminated with a significant reduction in market activity following September’s shambolic mini budget as mortgage approval levels dipped by almost a third in a single quarter.

“Unfortunately, while stability may have returned to some degree, the level of buyer activity seen during the open stages of this year is yet to rebound and we’ve seen a further, albeit far more marginal, reduction in approval numbers.

“With the Bank of England choosing to increase interest rates for a 12th consecutive time this month, it’s unlikely that we will see any notable uplift anytime soon and while we don’t anticipate a market collapse, the result is likely to be a far more subdued outlook for the year ahead.”

It’s a similar story looking at mortgages by value.

Having fallen by -34% between Q3 and Q4 of last year, the £29.4bn lent in Q1 of this year was also some -6.7% below the final quarter of 2022 and 41.5% down year on year.

As a result, the average sum lent to the nation’s homebuyers sat at £216,147 during the first quarter of this year. A -2.2% quarterly drop and -8.1% down when compared to Q1, 2022.