A mortgage expert says it’s likely that the housing market will improve this autumn.

Octane Capital studied Property lending mortgage approval trends over the last five years as a baseline to forecast the run up to Christmas.

And five years mortgage approvals in September, October and November have traditionally been seven per cent higher than the overall average, making up 27 per cent for the whole year’s business.

Some 26 per cent of approvals come in winter, 25 per cent in summer and 22 per cent in spring between April and June.

Mortgage approvals have fallen by 23.7 per cent year-on-year, as there were just 633,400 over the past 12 months, down from 830,600.

And in the past six months, approvals are 14.7 per cent lower than the previous six months, at 291,600 compared to 341,800.

However Octane says the picture is changing despite 14 successive interest rate hikes by the Bank of England.

Approvals climbed by 3.2 per cent in May and then by 6.9 per cent in June, although the market still has a long way to go before it returns to full strength.

Jonathan Samuels, chief executive at Octane Capital, says: “The mortgage market has had a mixed year, but activity could intensify in the months ahead.

“Autumn is historically the strongest time of the year, and the approval count has already improved over the summer months.

“Mortgage rates are steady, and in many cases now falling, which should help to spur on potential buyers.”