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Strategies & Market Trends : Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: siempre who wrote (12459)	9/29/2004 9:41:37 AM
From: mishedlo	Respond to of 116555

UK mortgage lending, approvals slow in Aug but consumer credit still strong Wednesday, September 29, 2004 8:51:49 AM afxpress.com LONDON (AFX) - UK consumer credit remained strong in August, but mortgage lending and approvals both slowed as the series of rate hikes delivered by the Bank of England takes its toll on the housing market Figures from the Bank of England today showed net consumer credit rose to 1.86 bln stg in August, above the 1.77 bln rise seen in July but still comfortably below the 2.19 bln stg figure recorded in June The figure was in line with analyst expectations for a rise of around 1.9 bln stg. Meanwhile, mortgage lending grew 8.386 bln stg, below July's growth of 8.743 and in line with analysts' forecasts. The August figure marks the weakest growth since August 2003 Mortgage approvals -- an important gauge of housing market activity in the coming months -- also fell considerably The value of approvals of new mortgage loans rose 23.574 bln stg, down from a rise of 24.12 last month and the lowest rise since June 2003 The number of approvals meanwhile slumped to 96,000 from 100,000 in July The figures confirm the picture painted by recent surveys from the likes of the British Bankers' Association and the Council of Mortgage Lenders, which has led to the belief that UK interest rates may not have to rise much further The Bank of England has raised rates five times since November last year, taking the main repo rate to 4.75 pct The British Bankers' Association has already reported that mortgage borrowing from UK banks and building societies showed its weakest rise in August since July 2002 Total net lending, which includes both lending secured on dwellings and consumer credit amounted to 10.250 bln stg, the lowest since December 2003 Total outstanding household debt, however, still remains above the 1 trln stg mark for the third month running Credit card lending in August grew to 901 mln stg from 828 mln in July