* Building society gross advances amounted to £3,970 million in December 2006, compared to £3,614 million in December 2005.
* Net Advances were £560 million in December 2006, versus £828 million in December 2005.
* Approvals were £3,962 million in December 2006 up from £3,154 million in December 2005.
* Building societies had net inflows of £1,070 million in December compared to net receipts of £1,138 million in December 2005.
Commenting on the mortgage market, Adrian Coles, director-general of the BSA, said: "Building society mortgage gross lending hit £52.8 billion in 2006, which is the highest yearly figure on record.
"It takes some months for the mortgage market to adjust to a rate rise, but these figures suggest that last year's rises were starting to take effect. Net mortgage lending from building societies has declined from recent highs in the past few months and in December was down year on year by 32.3%. Approvals (loans agreed but not made) are down from the highs seen earlier in 2006 - but still are a December record. This suggests mortgage lending will continue to be robust at the start of 2007.
"The strength of the housing market could have been one of the factors which influenced the Bank of England's decision to put rates up last week; to take the heat in the housing market down a few degrees.
"It is likely that the impact of interest rate rises will continue to feed through, dampening demand. However, we predict building societies will still have a successful 2007."
