The number of mortgages approved by the high street banks increased by 5.4% to 44,000 in April, according to the latest UK Finance statistics.
Approvals for home purchase were 8.6% higher than in April 2018 while remortgage approvals rose by 2.2%.
Gross mortgage lending across the residential market was £20.3 billion, 1.4% lower than the same month in 2018.
Shepherd Ncube, founder and CEO of Springbok Properties, commented: "Today's mortgage approval numbers are welcome relief from the negativity and uncertainty that many property market commentators have portrayed since the early days of Brexit yet buyer confidence is shrugging off the political shenanigans that would otherwise seek to paralyse our economy and the housing market. House prices, especially in the north, are seeing no signs of relenting and mortgage approvals being so buoyant is bound to now factor in to higher prices in a few months time."
Jeremy Leaf, north London estate agent and former RICS residential chairman, added:"Perhaps rather surprisingly, home purchase approvals, which are the most important element of these figures, were strongly higher in April but reflect a rather up and down period for the market. Nevertheless, it is a positive and once again demand proves to be more resilient, which it should be at this time of year.
"These figures are a little bit historic so looking forward, the political uncertainty is likely to weigh more heavily on results in the coming months so let’s enjoy it while we can."
Article published by financialreporter - 28 May 2019