John Charcol: Buyers shouldn't "read too much" into one set of figures
Buyers should "not read too much" into the latest figures which revealed a ten per cent drop in mortgage approvals in November, according to John Charcol mortgage advisers.
The firm was commenting on statistics released recently from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) which showed a sharp decline in the number of mortgages being approved. Figures from the National Association of Estate Agents also revealed a significant drop in the number of first-time buyers entering the market compared with six months ago.
Ray Boulger, senior technical manager at John Charcol, said that a drop in approvals from October to November was not shocking but agreed with the CML that the size of the drop was "surprising".
He said: "One needs to take care not to read too much into any single monthly figures. There is a seasonal influence at work here because traditionally one starts to see a bit of a tail off towards the end of the year."
Mr Boulger added that he would have expected more people to have been aiming to complete their transactions by the end of the year.
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