Mortgage market remains buoyant

Figures released today showed no signs of a slowdown in the mortgage market, according to the British Bankers Association (BBA). Some 270,500 mortgages, a total of ?19.6bn, were approved in October 2003.

"These data show no signs that the mortgage market is slowing down," said David Dooks, BBA director of statistics. "And this strong lending growth is likely to be maintained in coming months, as record numbers of approvals granted in October progress to completion."

However, British consumers may finally be heeding warnings on spiralling debt and the threat of increasing interest rates. The rise in borrowing on personal loans and overdrafts was ?263m, far less than the average increase over the previous six months of ?395m.

Britons still spent some ?7.8bn on their credit cards in October, 7% more than the previous month's average, but repayments were also stronger, meaning that the increase in lending was the lowest the country had seen since June.