UK mortgage approvals climbs in April, holds above six-month average

The latest money and credit data from the BOE shows that net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals decreased to £4.4 billion in April. That follows from the £6.8 billion recorded in March. As for net mortgage approvals, that is seen increasing to 65,900 as compared to 64,000 in the month before. The figure is holding above an average of around 63,100 over the previous six months.Overall, that continues to indicate a solid benchmark for future borrowing. And if anything, it continues to suggest some added resilience in the housing market so far this year.And that comes despite the ‘effective’ interest rate - the actual interest paid - on newly drawn mortgages having increased to 4.08%.Looking to net consumer credit, that is seen mostly unchanged at £1.9 billion and keeping with the six-month average. The annual growth rate did slow to 8.8% in April, suggesting some tapering in overall economic momentum. Of note, the annual growth rate for credit card borrowing decreased to 11.8% (down from 12.3%) while the annual growth rate for other forms of consumer credit remained unchanged at 7.4%. This article was written by Justin Low at investinglive.com.