RICS: BBA July mortgage lending figures

Commenting on the BBA mortgage lending figures, Oliver Gilmartin, RICS senior economist said: "Mortgage activity appears to be stabilising although the paltry level of activity is not supportive of a near term pick up in house prices. The driver of house prices in the near term will be the resilience of the economy and the outlook for the labour market both of which appear to be showing cracks. Few crumbs of comfort can be taken from recent signs that mortgage activity may have finally found a floor amid a backdrop of a stalling economy and expected rises in unemployment."