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LONDON, Nov 25 (Reuters) - British banks approved 37,076mortgages for house purchase in October, the lowest number sinceMay last year, as the housing market continued to slow, theBritish Bankers' Association said on Tuesday.
Mortgage approvals for house purchase fell from 39,127 inSeptember, 16 percent down from the same time a year ago andalmost a quarter below the peak reached in January, the BBAsaid.
"Today's figures suggest that the cooling of the propertymarket has continued in recent weeks," said BBA chief economistRichard Woolhouse.
However, unsecured consumer credit lending is picking upstrongly, growing at an annual rate of nearly 3 percent, itsfastest since the financial crisis started to bite in 2008.
"Consumers continue to show confidence in the economy,"Woolhouse said.
Net credit card lending rose by 307 million pounds inOctober, its biggest increase since June last year, while otherpersonal lending rose by 146 million pounds, more than in recentmonths but less than seen earlier in the year.
The BBA data are generally a good guide to trends in morecomprehensive Bank of England lending data due the followingweek, but do not include lending by mutually owned buildingsocieties, which accounts for almost a third of mortgages.
Britain's housing market has been slowing since the middleof the year, as tighter lending rules, high prices and theprospect of rate rises have dented buyer demand. (Reporting by David Milliken, editing by William Schomberg)
