British mortgage approvals for house purchase fell in August to their lowest level since April, data showed today.
The Bank of England said mortgage approvals - a leading indicator of the strength of the housing market - fell to 109,000 in August from an unrevised 115,000 in July. This was the lowest reading since April's 108,000 and below the consensus forecast of 110,000.
Combined with other figures showing weaker than expected mortgage lending and a sharp drop in housing equity withdrawal, the fall suggests recent interest rate rises and growing affordability pressures are taking their toll on housing demand.
Mortgage lending rose by 8.457 billion pounds in August, less than the 9.0 billion pound increase forecast by analysts.
Growth in consumer credit was somewhat stronger than expected, however, although well below levels seen at the end of last year.
The BoE left its final reading of broad money supply growth unchanged at 1.2 per cent on the month and 13.5 per cent on the year.