British mortgage approvals for home purchases rose in June from a month ago, but were still markedly lower on the year, the British Bankers Association said today.
The BBA said approvals - loans agreed but not yet made - continued to rise in June to hit a 12-month high of 70,750 from 67,702 in May.
But they were still down 20 per cent from 88,859 in June 2004. The approvals figures are not adjusted to reflect seasonal patterns in the housing market, which means they can be volatile from month to month.
Confirming a preliminary figure from last week, the BBA said that underlying seasonally adjusted mortgage lending rose by £4.6 billion, compared with £4.5 billion in May and £5.6 billion in June 2004.
"Higher volumes of loan approvals in June mirror the stronger seasonal pattern showing there is stable underlying demand for loans," said BBA director of statistics David Dooks.
The association of major banking groups said unsecured credit card lending rose by £295 million pounds in seasonally adjusted terms. That was the highest since January. "If June's higher credit card lending was a reflection of consumer spending, then it was offset by very low demand for loans and overdrafts ... but the overall picture is one of subdued unsecured lending," Mr Dooks said.
The increase in credit card borrowing in June mirrors a strong rise in retail sales in the same month. Official data last week showed retail sales in June jumped by 1.3 per cent from May, the fastest monthly increase in 1 1/2 years.