However, the December 2014 figure was up from December 2013 when 26,649 mortgages were approved by building societies.
By value £3,843m worth of mortgages were approved by BSA members in December 2014, down from £4,351m in November but up from £3,641m in December 2013.
According to BSA figures the total mortgage balance outstanding with BSA members at the end of December 2014 stood at £251,537m.
Total mortgage balances outstanding across all types of lender stood at £1,301,200m by the end of February 2015.