U.K. Mortgage Approvals Fall To 17-Month Low

(RTTNews) - U.K. mortgage approvals declined to a 17-month low in November, data from the Bank of England showed Friday.

Mortgage approvals declined slightly to 59,029 in November, the lowest since June 2013, from 59,511 in October. Economists had forecast approvals to decline more sharply to 58,700. This was the fifth consecutive decline in approvals.

Lending secured on dwellings rose by GBP 2.1 billion compared to GBP 1.6 billion growth posted in October. On a yearly basis, secured lending was up 1.9 percent versus 1.8 percent in October.

Consumer credit increased by GBP 1.3 billion, bigger than GBP 1.1 billion increase seen in October. The annual increase rate accelerated to 6.9 percent from 6.4 percent.

IHS Global Insight's Chief UK Economist Howard Archer said the weakening of buyer interest in houses may well be close to bottoming out. He expects buyer interest to pick up to a limited extent in 2015 from current levels.

M4 money supply remained flat on a monthly basis for the second time in November, BoE said. Year-on-year, M4 declined 2.8 percent after falling 2.6 percent in October.