Bank of England mortgage approvals December 2008.

New data out for November 2008 here.

The usual commentary really.

Mortgage approvals for house purchase were 27,000 for November 2008 compared to 82,000 in November 2007 down 67%.

These are now bumping along a range around 30,000 and have been since June and must now signify the bottom of the approvals for home purchase.

Just goes to show how reckless the lending was. Gordon Brown was not the only irresponsible one here. Lenders have now adopted their old lending practices which include such crazy rules like-

checking incomes (barking mad)
capping borrowing at 4 times income (crazy tightness)
requiring a deposit (whatever next)
wanting to know how you intend repaying the mortgage (who thought that one up!)

If Gordon Brown wants lenders to lend again maybe he should mark all property down by another 20% and we can get on with sensible lending (see the 4 points above) on sensibly priced property.

If you are a first time buyer, your time is coming. Keep saving for your 5% deposit, because these deals will return in the later part of 2009. House prices will be down another 15%, mortgage deals will be equivalent to rent and the housing market will start a steady climb from Q4 2009.

Good luck.