Mortgage approvals tumble to record low

Approvals for new home loans in fell to a record low in April, official figures showed on Monday, raising fears that the housing market is in for a protracted and painful slowdown.

The Bank of England said mortgage approvals - loans agreed but not yet made - fell to 58,000 from 63,000 in March. That was much weaker than the 65,000 total predicted by analysts and the lowest since comparable records began in 1999.

Approvals over the three months to April came in at 192,000, just above the record quarterly low of 191,000 seen in the last housing market crash in the final quarter of 1992, although those also included remortgaging by banks.

"While prices adjusted by a third in real terms during the last UK crash, we forecast a less sharp -- but still significant 25 percent fall in real house prices," said George Buckley, chief UK economist at Deutsche Bank.

Economists said the latest Bank figures pointed to further falls in house prices in the next few months as the global credit crunch has made lenders wary about offering new home loans.

Separate data also out on Monday also showed growth in the manufacturing sector came to a standstill in May as the wider economy suffers from the credit crisis.

But the Bank is expected to keep interest rates unchanged later this week as inflation is a full percentage point above the central bank's target and is expected to go higher still.

"Today's UK data reveals further signs of weakness on both the housing and industrial sides of the economy," said Vicky Redwood of Capital Economics. "However, none of this makes a rate cut later this week significantly more likely. Inflationary pressures are the Monetary Policy Committee's top concern."

Mortgage lending rose 6.354 billion pounds, the lowest since November 2004, while unsecured lending rose by 940 million.