|
|
 |
December surge in new mortgages (UK)
More mortgages were approved for house purchase in December than any month since May 2004, the Bank of England has revealed.
In total, 122,000 mortgages were approved during the month, an increase of more than a quarter since late 2004.
The Bank's statistics on mortgage approvals coincide with evidence of a pick up in house price inflation in January from the Nationwide.
Credit card debt and loans rose by £0.8bn in December, the Bank added.
Rate cut 'less likely'
A rise in mortgage approvals is usually seen as a sign of a strengthening housing market.
Mortgage approvals rose throughout the latter part of 2005, with experts citing August's cut in interest rates as the reason.
The number of approvals rose 6,000 between November and December but at 122,000 still have some way to go to reach the peak seen at the back end of 2003.
"The main message here is the unremitting strength of the mortgage market," Philip Shaw, chief economist at Investec, said.
Mr Shaw added that a stronger housing market "reduces the likelihood of a rate cut over the next few months."
Earlier on Tuesday, the Nationwide building society had said that UK house prices made a "strong start" to 2006, rising by 1.4% in January - the biggest monthly increase since July 2004.
Credit slowdown
Despite the run-up to Christmas being a busy time for shoppers, credit card debt hardly grew at all in December, the Bank's figures showed, compared with a £0.3bn increase the previous month.
But unsecured debt rose by £0.8bn during December, largely because of borrowing through personal loans and overdrafts.
Overall, the annual growth rate of consumer debt continued to fall in December to 9.3%, compared with 9.8% in November.
Consumer debt is growing at the slowest rate since 1994 and has fallen from a peak rate of 16.1% in 2002.
News date: 01 February 2006 - 13:46
|
|
