LONDON (AFX) - New approvals for house purchases in December rose to 2.640 bln stg in seasonally-adjusted terms, compared with an upwardly revised 2.469 bln stg rise the previous month, according to the Building Societies Association. On an unadjusted basis, new approvals rose to 2.205 bln stg in January against 1.960 bln in December. Building societies' gross advances totalled an adjusted 2.414 bln stg, up from a downwardly revised 2.249 bln in December, while the unadjusted figure fell to 2.112 bln from 2.145 bln the previous month. Gross advances are the total value of mortgages advanced in the period, while net advances are after repayments of principal. In the savings market, building societies saw a seasonally-adjusted net retail inflow of 469 mln stg in January, against a downwardly revised inflow of 497 mln stg a month ago. Commenting on the data, BSA's director general Adrian Coles pointed out that the net advances for the month of January were up by more than a quarter on the previous month's figures, reaching 569 mln stg. He said the figures illustrated that, after the Christmas lull, the new year is seeing the continuation of last year's strong housing market. "As is expected for the beginning of the year, building societies saw the inflow of money into savings accounts turning into an outflow of 348 mln stg, as people use their money to pay off credit card bills from Christmas and book their holidays," he said. However, the market for cash-ISAs is already taking off for the sector, as societies saw net inflows double from 172 mln stg in December to 346 mln for the month of January, he added.