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Residential property market remains "subdued"
01/09/10
Edited by Bob Witham.The UK's residential property market remains "subdued" despite efforts to stimulate activity among buyers, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) has said.
Commenting on the latest mortgage approval data from the Bank of England, the organisation's chief economist Simon Rubinsohn said the stamp duty holiday for first-time buyers on homes worth up to £250,000 has apparently failed to trigger a significant upswing in transactions.
He added that the number of loans being approved for property purchase has remained "fairly stable" since the start of the year at around 2,000 deals.
In the first seven months of 2010, approximately 340,000 mortgages were given the green light by lenders. This is up on the 310,000 approved during the corresponding period of 2009 but remained "well down on historic norms".
According to the Bank's figures, the value of new loans sanctioned for house purchase during July was £7 billion.
