U.K. mortgage lending data strengthens slightly in June, lending rises 4 pct year-on-year

There was barely any change in U.K.’s figures for lending to households, which continued to rise 4 percent year-on-year, a rate unchanged for the past two-and-a-half years. The double digit growth in consumer credit seen up until last summer had sparked worries over the sustainability of consumer credit and possible losses for the financial sector, but that rate has decelerated slightly since then and moved sideways at 8.8 percent year-on-year for a second straight month.

With retail sales having grown sharply in the second quarter, credit card borrowing appears to have followed suit – the relevant growth rate rose to 9.5 percent year-on-year, while other loans and advance categories indicated a stable pace of rise. On the secured lending side, the data were encouraging. The flow of net new lending was at the highest level since June 2017 and new mortgage approvals for house purchase also rose at 65.5k, the highest level since the beginning of the year, noted Daiwa Capital Market Research.

“The latest official house price data suggested that growth continued to ease, while transection levels remained subdued relative to recent averages”, added Daiwa Capital Market Research.

At 21:00 GMT the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of British Pound was bearish at -76.7605, while the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of US Dollar was neutral at -20.2557. For more details on FxWirePro's Currency Strength Index, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex