RICS: Bank of England mortgage approval data

Commenting on Bank of England mortgage approval data, Simon Rubinsohn, RICS chief economist said: "Mortgage approvals remained little changed in February at 73,000. This is more than 40% down from the highs seen in November 2006 and 25% lower than in September last year. The likelihood is that the level of activity in the housing market will slip further over the coming months as mortgage lenders either (temporarily) close their doors to new borrowers or lift interest rates.

"Meanwhile data on mortgage equity withdrawal relating to the fourth quarter of last year demonstrates how the softer tone in the property market is feeding through into consumer behaviour more generally. The amount of equity withdrawn in the final three months of 2007 slipped to just £7.3bn. This is lowest figure since the first quarter of 2005. Given the latest data from the housing market, this is likely to fall further over the balance of this year giving households less access to finance to supplement their income."