"As the general trend was of a slowing market towards the end of the year, compared to 2016, the next couple of months could show more subdued results"
Remortgage approvals also fell, dropping to 46,475 following strength in October and November.
The data shows that annual growth in secured lending was unchanged at 3.3% in December, with net lending remaining stable at £3.7 billion.
Jeremy Leaf, north London estate agent and former RICS residential chairman, commented: "Although approvals were relatively flat in December it is probably no more than we expected at this time of year following relatively strong lending in October and November.
"What we have seen since on the ground is viewing numbers well up on this time last year but it remains to be seen whether this translates into sales in the next month or two. We are waiting for more commitment from buyers before deciding whether this is going to be a better-than-anticipated start to 2018."
Richard Pike, Phoebus Software sales and marketing director, added: “A decent end to 2017 was confirmed in December’s lending figures from the Bank of England this morning. Whether this has any bearing on the outlook for the market for 2018 is debatable though.
"We are moving into what, traditionally, is a busy time for property sales so the coming months are likely to show an improvement on December. However, as the general trend was of a slowing market towards the end of the year, compared to 2016, the next couple of months could show more subdued results than the beginning of last year.”
