Comment on the Bank of England's money and credit figures - from Phoebus

02 April 2024

Here’s a comment from Adam Oldfield at Phoebus. He looks at December figures too.

Adam Oldfield, chief revenue officer at Phoebus Software, said: “February mortgage debt increased significantly since January – from £1.1 billion to £1.5 billion. This shows a sharper increase again since December, when individuals borrowed, on net, £0.9 billion.

“It is a similarly consistent upward trajectory for net mortgage approvals on house purchases. They rose from 51,500 in December to 56,100 in January and now 60,400 in the Bank of England’s latest figures for February. Net approvals for remortgaging increased by 6,800 since January, to 37,700, having remained stagnant at 30,900 since December.

“These figures support the growing confidence in the housing market alongside a stabilising economy and dropping inflation. The continuing decrease in interest rates tells a similar story. It dropped by a significant 29 basis points in February, to 4.90%. In December it fell by 9 points to 5.19%.

“Lenders and borrowers can take confidence from these figures. We are definitely going in the right direction for a more buoyant housing market.”