UK mortgage approvals rise to 4-month high in June

The number of mortgage approvals in the United Kingdom rose to the highest level in four months in June, an indication to a growing housing market amid the Bank of England`s efforts to hike borrowing costs.

The number of loan approvals for house purchase was 67.2 thousand last month, up from May`s revised reading of 62.0 thousand, the BoE said on Tuesday, beating analysts` median forecast of 63.0 thousand. That was the first rise since January, comparing to the average of 68.2 thousand over the previous six months.

With the UK economy growing strongly, the BoE is ready to hike its benchmark interest rate from an all-time low of 0.5 percent, and market participants expect the first move to take place either toward the end of this year, or early in 2015.

However, the BoE announced measures to try to cool UK booming housing market amid growing risks to Britain’s recovery looming out of the housing market.

Governor Mark Carney reiterated his commitment to keep rates low, justifying market reaction to differing bets from investors over UK economic outlook. He also announced tools to try to slow the pace of individuals taking on too much debt relative to their incomes.

The pound fell near a four-month low against the dollar, and was last seen trading around $1.6970 following the news.