Investing.com - The number of mortgages approved by the British Banker’s Association fell to a 13-month low in October, industry data showed on Friday.
In a report, UK Finance said that mortgage approvals fell to a seasonally adjusted 40.5 thousand in October, from 41.6 thousand in the preceding month.
Analysts had expected mortgage approvals to fall to just 40.9 thousand last month.
Meanwhile, many homeowners rushed to refinance their mortgages ahead of the Bank of England's rate rise last month, the association said.
"The anticipated bank rate rise saw a flurry of remortgage activity as many homeowners took advantage of the competitive rates on offer," said UK Finance’s Senior Economist Mohammad Jamei. "Borrowing was also boosted by stronger first-time buyer activity as this segment reaped the benefits from good credit availability, lower rates and government housing schemes."
After the report, GBP/USD was trading at 1.3321 compared to 1.3319 prior and EUR/GBP was at 0.8909 from 0.8907 before.