Mortgage approvals for house purchase were around 63,800 in December, unchanged from November, but slightly below the 2018 average of around 65,200.
The total value of loan approvals in December came to £21.1bn, down from the £21.3bn in November, and down slightly from the previous six-month average of £21.7bn.
Around 47,902 remortgages at a value of £8.5bn were approved in December, falling from 48,558 and £8.7bn in the previous month, respectively.
Waiting for Brexit
Conor Murphy, CEO of Smartr365, said while December saw the usual festive dip, the fundamentals of the market remained solid.
“Lenders are well-capitalised and the industry is constantly expanding the product offerings available for buyers,” he said.
“While there’s no denying Brexit is acting as a drag on transaction volumes, mortgage technology is reaching a tipping point in 2019. We feel there is a huge opportunity here for advisers to use technology to improve not just their business, but their clients’ experience.
“The closer we can come to creating a frictionless mortgage journey for customers, advisers and lenders, the better the outlook for the mortgage market will be,” he added.
