UK mortgage approvals dip in July but beat forecasts
UK mortgage approvals slipped in July but the decline was not as bad as analysts had feared, easing concerns about a sharp slowdown in the housing market.
Approvals for home purchases totalled 66,569, down from 67,085 in June, but better than the consensus forecast of 66,000.
June's rise was the first increase in five months, following a 10-month low of 61,914 in May.
Recent indicators had shown that the rampant housing market in the UK was losing momentum as a result of tougher lending rules introduced through the Mortgage Market Review (MMR), as well as heightened expectations of a rate hike by the Bank of England.
"While the overall increase in mortgage activity from May's low suggests that lenders are increasingly getting to grips with the MMR regulations, there still appears to have been some underlying moderation in housing market activity," said Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight.
He pointed out that July's approvals were still significantly below the 74-month high of 76,295 in January.
BC