The level of mortgage approvals declined during February in the build up to the Stamp Duty deadline, official figures show.
The latest Bank of England data shows net mortgage approvals for house purchases decreased by 600 to 65,500 in February, following a decrease of 400 in January.
Commenting on the figures, Lucian Cook, head of residential research at Savills, said: “A minor slip in mortgage approvals in February adds weight to the narrative that the housing market recovery has lost some momentum in the early part of the year, given a lack of economic impetus and the stop-start nature of interest rate cuts.”
Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla, said: “Mortgage approvals have slowed in the wake of the rush to beat the Stamp Duty deadline and are now recovering after the seasonal slowdown over December.
“We expect approvals to continue recovering towards 80,000 a month as the market returns to normal. Zoopla’s latest data shows that sales agreed are up 5% over the last year with more sales agreed driving continued demand for mortgages to fund sales”
Nathan Emerson, chief executive of Propertymark, added: “With the wider global economy seeing upheaval, many people remain cautious about how this might affect aspects such as the rate of inflation and base rates domestically. Although overall, we are seeing an encouraging level of growth year-on-year within the housing market, it is vital consumers feel confident enough to approach a potential house move when looking at their affordability.
“We have seen a strong start to the year overall, and as we head further towards the summer months, we remain optimistic to see further market momentum. It does, however, remain imperative that the rate of inflation remains closely aligned with the initially set target of 2% before the Bank of England will likely consider any new base rate cuts.”