Comment from Phoebus on BoE money & credit figures

30 April 2024

Here are some thoughts from Adam Oldfield, CRO at Phoebus Software, the mortgages and savings servicing company.

Adam Oldfield, chief revenue officer at Phoebus said, “The general feeling that the mortgage and housing markets have picked up in the first quarter of this year is borne out by today’s Bank of England’s Money and Credit figures for March. Last year was challenging for many, but the highest number of net approvals since September shows confidence rose at the start of this year. Residential transactions rising by a fifth[i] month-on-month indicates potential pent-up demand for people to stop sitting on the fence and move on with their lives.

“Whether this recovery will continue into Q2 with swap rates bouncing back up is yet to be seen however. While affordability was improved with interest rates in March having dropped 17 basis points, rising swap rates will already have eaten into much of this in April, influenced by the uncertainty of a UK general election looming and the wider global picture continuing to look unsettled.”

[1] Non-seasonally adjusted