Key Statistics: 4th June 2013

Construction

• House prices measured by the Nationwide increased by 0.4% in May and were 1.1% higher than in May 2012.
• According to the Bank of England the number of mortgage approvals for house purchases in April was 53,700 flat compared to the level in the preceding March.

UK Economy

• The British Chamber of Commerce revised up its growth forecast for 2013 to 0.9% up from 0.6% forecast in March, growth in 2014 was revised to 1.9% up from 1.7%.
• Consumer confidence as measured by the GfK survey increased by 5 points in May to a reading of -22; the gain in the past months marks a continuation of the trend of improving consumer confidence throughout 2013; the current reading is 7 points above the reading for any month of 2012. 
• Data released by the Bank of England relating to the Funding for Lending Scheme showed that net lending for the 40 groups participating was £-0.3bn during the first quarter of the year, while the impact on lending was less pronounced over the period it is noted that interest rates on mortgages, personal and business loans have all fall since June last year.
• Other lending data from the Bank of England showed that total lending to individuals increased by £1.4bn in April; of this £0.9bn was new lending secured on properties and the remaining £0.5bn was consumer credit from credit cards and other loans. However lending to companies remained weak in a sign that conditions in the wider economy remain subdued.
• Manufacturing activity as measured by the Purchasing Managers Index was at a 14-month high in May as growth in output and orders accelerate; the index read 51.3 up from 50.2 in April