Mortgage lending growth eased in January but remained close to its recent average, while approvals for home loans hit a two-year high, in a further sign of buoyancy in the housing market. The British Bankers' Association said on Monday that underlying mortgage lending rose 4.6 billion pounds in January, down from 5.3 billion in December. But separate figures from the Building Societies Association showed the value of mortgage approvals -- loans agreed but not yet made -- were their highest in over two years at 4.322 billion pounds in January.