U.K. mortgage approvals increased to the highest level in more than five years, adding to signs that the housing market recovery is gathering pace in July.
Mortgage approvals for house purchases increased to 60,624 in July, the highest since March 2008, from 58,238 in June, the Bank of England said Friday. The approvals for lending secured on dwelling also exceeded the consensus forecast of 58,800.
Net mortgage lending grew by GBP 707 million compared to GBP 1.02 billion rise in June. Meanwhile, net consumer credit increased GBP 619 million, bigger than last month's GBP 371 million rise.
However, Samuel Tombs at Capital Economics said talk of a renewed boom in the housing market still seems to be wide of the mark.
In a separate communique, the BoE said M4 money supply grew at a faster pace of 1.8 percent annually after rising 1.5 percent in June. Month-on-month, M4 climbed 0.6 percent.