The British housing market continued to defy expectations of a slowdown today as approvals for house purchase hit their highest level for nearly two years.
The British Bankers' Association said just under 97,900 loans for new homes were approved during March, the highest figure since May 2002.
At the same time the average amount people buying a new home were borrowing jumped to £109,200 sterling, up from £103,400 in February, taking the total value of the approved loans to a record £10.68 billion.
The figures came as Nationwide Building Society reported that British house prices rose by 2.1 per cent during April, the equivalent of more than £100 a day, to take the average cost of a home to £145,918.