Statistics point to a softer housing market says BBA
Report out today from the BBA headlines ‘August 2016 figures for the high street banks’
House purchase approval numbers are 21% lower than in August 2015 but in the first eight months of 2016 they are 2% lower than in the same period of 2015.
Remortgaging approvals were 6% lower than in August 2015 but in the first eight months of 2016 were 16% higher than in the equivalent period of 2015.
Dr Rebecca Harding, Chief Economist at the BBA, said: “The High Street Banking statistics published today point to a softer housing market, strong consumer credit and slightly weaker business borrowing in August. The data was collected before the Bank of England reduced interest rates to 0.25% and so give an indication of some of the underlying pressures that the MPC was responding to when it made this decision.
“Mortgage borrowing is growing at a slower pace than it has for the last few months reflecting both the slowdown in housing market growth after the April spike and broader trends in the sector.
“Given the low interest rate environment and high levels of confidence during the summer, the strong credit growth can be interpreted as strong consumer sentiment.
“Company deposits grew at an annual rate of 3.8% in August 2016 compared to 9% in August 2015 suggesting that companies may be using their own internal resources to fund working capital and growth requirements.”
Read the report for August in full on the BBA website click here
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