Mortgage situation 'could be past the worst'

Britain's mortgage market is probably beyond its lowest point, according to one expert.

Bernard Clarke, communications manager for the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), said UK mortgages most likely hit rock-bottom last autumn, but optimism with new figures should not be over-estimated.

He stated: "We would like to see that those signs become more firmly entrenched before saying that we think we have reached a turning point in the market."

Furthermore, judging the performance of the sector on one month's statistics is unreliable and instead people should monitor a succession of monthly data, Mr Clarke added.

Mortgages could undergo months of "volatility" before settling down and signifying a recovery, he remarked.

The number of new mortgage approvals rose for the fourth month in a row in May, according to Bank of England figures published on 29 June.

Remortgaging transactions declined from 32,016 in March to 30,984 in May of this year.