Number of approved mortgages up

The mortgage market is continuing to show signs of a significant pick-up, despite total lending still lagging far behind normal levels.

Last month, the number of approved mortgages rose by almost 50% compared with the same period last year, while the value of these loans also rose by nearly 60%.

In the second quarter of the year, approvals increased by more than 40% with the value of these approvals also up on the same period a year ago.