Mortgage lending up again
A record £20.9 billion was lent in mortgages in August, according to the British Bankers' Association (BBA).
The figures reveal that an increase of 24 per cent was lent in August from the same period last year, but credit card use has dropped.
Indeed, some £399 million worth of credit card debt was paid off in August, indicating that Brits have not necessarily increased their appetite for debt.
"Record gross and net mortgage lending is a reflection of house prices and mix of loans, rather than increased volumes," said David Dooks, BBA director of statistics.
"Compared to the numbers of secured loans approved at the same time in previous years, August shows robust and stable demand orientated towards house purchase rather than for other purposes, though below the volumes seen in 2003.
"The on-going weak appetite for consumer credit, driven by a further reduction in credit card lending, continued in August."
Howard Archer, economist at the Global Insight consultancy, noted: "While net mortgage lending in August was very high, mortgage approvals for house purchases were up a modest 2.6 per cent year-on-year and substantially below the levels seen in May and June.
"Even allowing for seasonal factors, this hints that August's interest rate hike and the possibility of more interest rises to come could be starting to have some dampening impact on housing market activity."
© Adfero LtdYou can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.