The consumer slowdown is starting in earnest, experts declared yesterday, after figures showed a big drop in households' appetite for debt.
The number of new mortgages being approved for homebuyers fell last month to the lowest level since April, according to figures from the Bank of England. Experts said it was a clear-cut sign that the housing market is starting to turn, since approvals are a reliable indication of the future direction of house prices.
It coincided with a warning from a leading economist that the UK is the most vulnerable to a housing market correction in Europe, and amid fresh evidence that prices are slowing. |
