–BOE: UK Feb House Purchase Approvals 48,986 vs 57,899 Jan
–BOE: UK Feb House Purchase Approvals Lowest Since June 2011
–BOE: UK Feb Net Mortgage Lending Change m/m +stg1.2bn
–BOE: UK Feb Net Consumer Credit +stg0.4bn
–BOE: Feb M4 Ex-IOFCs -0.4% m/m; +2.5% 1Q/3m Ann.; +2.9% 4q/12m
–BOE: UK Feb M4 -1.9% m/m; -3.4% y/y; M4 Lending -3.2% y/y
–BOE Credit Svy Sees Secured Household Credit Broadly Unchanged
–BOE Credit Svy: Unsecured Hhold Credit Seen Broadly Unch Q1
–BOE Credit Svy: Cred Access Broadly Unch For SMES, Large Firms
LONDON (MNI) – UK mortgage approvals dropped to their lowest level
since June 2011 in February, the Bank of England data showed Thursday.
Approvals fell to 48,986 from 57,899 in January, following a
sustained period of approvals coming in well above the 50,000 mark. The
latter had tentatively reassured policymakers and economic commentators
that housing market activity might have bottomed out.
The fall may be linked to the ending of the holiday on stamp duty
for some house purchases, a major factor in the sharp drop seen in
the Nationwide house price index in March, which was released earlier
this morning.
The latest monetary and lending report from the BOE also showed
renewed weakness in the monetary aggregates, with M4 seeing its sharpest
fall ever on the month and on the year, at -1.9 m/m and -3.4% on the
year.
But the BOE advised looking at the M4 excluding IOFCs measure,
which was only down 0.4% on the month.
Net lending secured on dwellings rose stg1.2bn on the month, weaker
than January’s stg1.6bn rise but still well above the levels seen in
December (stg1.0bn) and November (stg0.7bn).
–London newsroom: +44 207 862 7492 email: dthomas@marketnews.com
[TOPICS: M$B$$$,M$$BE$,MABDS$]
