Housing market continues to lose heat
Richard Woolhouse, chief economist at the BBA, said: “Today’s figures suggest that the cooling of the property market has continued in recent weeks. Approvals were 16% lower in October than in the same month last year – the corresponding figure for September was a 10% decline.
“Despite a softening in the housing market, consumers continue to show confidence in the economy with unsecured borrowing at its highest growth rate in years.
“At the same time we all continue to make the most of new ISA rules, stashing more in our savings accounts over the course of the last year.”
Key points:
– Annual growth in unsecured borrowing is running at 2.8% – the highest rate since 2008.
– The slowdown in the mortgage market continues, with house purchase approvals 16% lower than in October last year. There were also fewer approvals for remortgaging and equity release.
– ISA deposits totalled £11.2bn in the 12 months to October, an increase of almost 22% on the same period last year.
