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Mortgages up in December

Date: 24 Jan 05

The number of mortgages agreed in December rose 1.5 per cent, according to new figures.

The Major British Banking Groups show lending was up £15.6 billion to £1,078.8 billion.

It was an improvement on the preceding six months' rises, which totalled on average £12.2 billion a month.

BBA director of statistics, David Dooks, said: "After four months of slower mortgage lending growth, December saw an underlying monthly rise similar to those seen in the first half of last year."

However, he pointed out that this might have been due to a "processing catch-up following the advent of mortgage regulation and the competitive attractiveness of specific products".

Credit card borrowing last month was slightly higher than in November, with a rise of £0.3 billion.

Loans and overdrafts rose by just £0.4 billion. This is compared with November's figure of £0.8 billion.

Growth in overall unsecured personal lending was down on November. The figures also revealed consumer credit was weaker than in recent months.

Mr Dooks concluded: "The picture in overall credit demand and increased deposits may suggest that consumers were careful in their spending during December."

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