Simon Gammon News Today

The number of mortgages approved for house purchase topped 60,000 in February, for the first time since September 2022.

Mortgage approvals jumped to their highest level since the mini-budget in February according to new figures.

Some 60,383 mortgage approvals for house purchase were recorded in February, marking the highest figure since 65,349 deals got the go-ahead in September 2022, according to Bank of England figures

Interest rate increases are really starting to bite for some mortgage borrowers, one commentator said.

The value of outstanding mortgage balances with arrears increased by 9.2% from the previous quarter, to reach £20.3 billion, which was 50.3% higher than in 2022, the Bank of England said

The value of outstanding mortgage balances with arrears in the UK jumped by just over 50% in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared with a year earlier, according to Bank of England figures. The bank...

Mortgage balances with some arrears at highest value since late 2016, Bank of England data shows

Art was the only luxury asset to hit double-digit growth last year, jumping 11pc in value, with a Picasso painting exchanging hands for £113m.

The perfect storm of soaring levels of inflation and ever-increasing interest rates appears, finally, to be moving on.

The housing market appears more robust than last year, experts said, as the Bank of England said the base rate was being held at 5.25%.