Mortgage approvals at six-month low

Activity in the property market has shown further signs of faltering after lthe atest figures revealed a six-month low in the number of mortgages approved for house purchase.

According to research carried out by the

Bank of England, there were 47,372 loans approved for house purchase in August, down from 48,346 in July.

It was the fourth consecutive monthly fall.

Economists have now warned that the housing market is heading towards a second round of price falls after mortgage levels have consistently failed to match the numbers reported in the second half of last year.

The latest figures released by the Bank are in line with gloomy data already published by other groups, including Nationwide, which said house prices fell by 0.9% in August.

The

Council of Mortgage Lenders reported lending was at its lowest level for August for a decade, and

HM Revenue & Customs figures showed a 6%

House prices up by 0.3% in August

House prices in England and Wales are at their highest level for two years, according to the Land Registry.

Its figures show that prices rose by 0.3% in August, with the average home now costing 167, 423 – a price last reached in August 2008.

The increase in August, half the size of the gain in July, meant prices increased for the fifth consecutive month, although the annual rate of growth fell from 6.8% in July to 6.7% in August.

But the headline figures masked wide regional variations. Prices fell by 1.4% in Yorkshire and the Humber in August, and also dropped in the East, North West, North East and South West.

At the other end of the scale, the value of a home rose by 1.2% in the West Midlands and 1.1% in the East Midlands.

Other groups also gave a more pessimistic outlook. Nationwide said prices fell by 0.9%

Paragon re-enters buy-to-let market

Specialist mortgage lender Paragon says it is to re-enter the buy-to-let market after agreeing a 200 million funding facility.

The group said the deal with Macquarie Bank will allow it to begin writing new loans straight away. It withdrew from the market in February 2008 amid the credit crunch but said it believes it is the first independent, non-deposit taking lender to come back after the severe lending stagnation.

It says it hopes to return to its previous position of having a 10% market share.

The so-called warehouse lending facility from the Australian lender gives Paragon the money it needs to write new loans up-front, until it has a large “bundle” of mortgages, which it will then securitise, raising fresh funds to lend.

It hopes the new facility will help enable it to write around 1 billion of new mortgages a year in the future.

The group said demand for rental property is as strong as it

Economic growth peaks at 1.2% in Uk

UK economic growth has peaked at 1.2%, the fastest quarterly growth rate recorded since 2001.

The

Office for National Statistics said the figures cover the April-June quarter and were pulled up by a particularly strong performance in UK construction. Further growth is not expected for the next quarter.

Output from the building industry saw its fastest rate of growth since 1963, up from 8.5% to 9.5%.

Other figures are not so positive: disposable income in the average UK household fell by 1.6% and the household savings ratio dropped from 5.5% to 3.2%, the lowest in six quarterly periods.

But

Bank of England deputy governor Charles Bean has said people need to spend their savings to help UK businesses get back on their feet.

IHS Global Insight analyst Howard Archer said the new figures do not change official UK monetary policy.

The Bank Of England’s all-time low 0.5%