Mortgage approvals fall for the twelfth month

The 58,000 mortgage approvals in April are the twelfth successive monthly drop in approvals by UK lenders. The amount of money lent also fell for the twelfth time in a row. Just £8.3 billion was advanced to individuals for buying houses, compared with £16.2 billion a year ago.

David Kuo, Head of Personal Finance at Fool.co.uk, says: "Fewer than 2,000 mortgages a day were approved for buying houses in April. The figure is the lowest since the Bank of England began the series in 1999.

"The drop is not unexpected given that lenders have been exploiting the Bank of England's three interest rate cuts this year to beef up their own balance sheets. But it is, nevertheless, a wake-up call for homeowners hoping to put their properties on the market this year.

"In the space of a year, the housing market has turned from a strong seller's market to a brawny buyer's market. But with more tightening likely, the fall in monthly mortgage approvals could extend to 13 next month.

"Fool.co.uk has predicted that property prices will fall 20% this year. Consequently, sellers who want to avoid the disappointment of a house sale falling through at the eleventh hours should think seriously about pricing their properties to go.

"It means forgetting about how much your property was worth previously, but how much it may be worth tomorrow. Buyers with the necessary finances to complete house purchases are now as scarce as hen's teeth, and could be even rarer next month."