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(Adds details, economists comments)
LONDON, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Britain's housing market showedsigns of slowing in August with the number of mortgages approvedby banks falling to its lowest level since January 2015 andanalysts said they expected further weakness ahead as Brexituncertainty dampens demand next year.
British banks approved 36,997 mortgages for house purchaseslast month, down from 37,672 in July and 21 percent lower thanin August 2015, the British Bankers' Association said on Monday.
The figures extended a slowdown which began at the start ofthis year ahead of the introduction of a new tax on homes boughtby landlords in April and Britain's referendum decision to leavethe European Union in June.
"The outlook for stagnation in households' real incomes nextyear, as inflation picks up and hiring slows sharply, points toa prolonged period of weakness in mortgage lending ahead,"Samuel Tombs, an economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said.
A rise of 1.5 percent in the average mortgage value inAugust pointed to a slowdown in house price growth over comingmonths, Tombs said.
Howard Archer, an economist at IHS Global Insight, saidhouse prices would likely be flat until the end of 2016 and fallby 3 percent in 2017 as the start of talks over Britain's exitfrom the EU exacerbated uncertainty about the economic outlook.
The BBA said growth in net credit card lending slowed inAugust, rising by 136 million pounds compared with an increaseof 290 million pounds in July.
But consumer borrowing overall remained strong with personalloans and overdrafts rising by a net 343 million pounds, thebiggest increase since May, underscoring how consumers appear tohave taken the Brexit vote in their stride.
The data was collected after the Bank of England cutinterest rates to a new record low of 0.25 percent on Aug. 4.
The BBA figures do not include lending by mutually ownedbuilding societies, which accounts for around third ofmortgages. The next release of the more comprehensive Bank ofEngland lending data is due on Thursday. (Reporting by Peter Hobson; editing by William Schomberg)
