Hometrack has predicted that mortgage approvals will remain flat over the next 12 months and house prices will fall by 2%.

The property analytics business expects lenders to approve 1.2 million mortgages during 2011. These will be made up of 575,000 mortgages for new home purchases and 355,000 remortgages, while 270,000 other borrowings will be secured on home owners’ properties.

David Catt, chief operating officer at Hometrack, said: “This represents no change on the 1.2 million Hometrack expect to see approved in 2010