MNI: 5 Things We Learned From Oct BOE Lending and Money Stats

--Corrects headline

By Jamie Satchithanantham and David Robinson

     LONDON (MNI) - The following are the key points from the October money and

credit data release published Wednesday by the Bank of England:

     - House purchase approvals, a leading indicator of future housing market

activity, fell for the third straight month in October, down to 64,575 from

66,111 in September. This was the lowest number of approvals since September

2016.

     - Within unsecured credit growth, which fell to its lowest level in three

months in October, credit card growth was also squeezed. It stood at stg0.259bn

in October, down from stg0.617bn in September, the lowest level since December

2016. Growth in unsecured credit has trended downwards since the turn of the

year.

     - Broad money increased by stg3.6bn in October with the 3m-annualised

growth rate, the BOE's preferred measure, of 5.4% the highest since June.

     - Net secured lending grew by stg3.392 in October. Though this is broadly

unchanged from the stg3.752bn growth seen in September it was the lowest outturn

since April and, combined with the approvals data, depicts a housing market

lacking much impetus.

     - Although average effective interest rates on completed mortgages hit new

lows in October, quoted rates are showing signs of picking up. A typical 2 year

75% LTV mortgage rate picked up to 1.55% in October, the highest since September

2016.

--MNI London Bureau; tel: +44 203-586-2225; email: les.commons@marketnews.com