Mortgages

House prices climbed 0.5% last month as the average price approaches 2006 levels, Nationwide says.

Net mortgage lending grew by £0.9bn last month, with house purchases driving growth, according to the Bank of England.

The Land Registry says average house prices rose by 0.6% in October, the fifth month in a row prices have increased.

The Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA) has formed a cross industry Mortgage Funding group aimed at restoring mortgage market liquidity.

City minister Lord Myners has defended the emergency loans totalling £61.6bn that were handed to the Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS at the height of the financial crisis last year, as the political row over the secrecy surrounding them intensified.

The FSA's remit could be expanded to include the regulation of buy-to-let and second-charge mortgages, under new proposals published by the Treasury today.

The number of UK mortgage approvals hit more than 42,200 in October, the highest since January last year, the British Bankers' Association (BBA) says.

Seasonal factors are being attributed to a 5% boost in gross mortgage lending in October.

More than half of consumers now expect house prices to be higher this time next year, a survey suggests, representing a huge change in sentiment from earlier in 2009.

The popularity of fixed-rate mortgages continued to fall in October, with their share of the market falling to 26.3%, according to John Charcol.