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U.K. Mortgage Approvals Shrink in November, Finance Body Says

U.K. Mortgage Approvals Shrink in November, Finance Body Says

(Bloomberg) -- The number of U.K. mortgages approved in November declined 10.6 percent compared to the same period last year, according to the latest U.K. Finance figures.

In its mortgage trends update, the trade body also reported a 2 percent decrease in gross mortgage lending across the residential market. Approvals for house purchases and remortgages were respectively 1.2 and 20.3 percent lower, it said.

Lloyds Banking Group and HSBC Holdings Plc will continue to lead stiff mortgage pricing competition in 2019, while the outlook for house prices should be flattish, Brexit conditions willing, analysts at Bloomberg Intelligence said.

The body said that data in this update reflects more than two-thirds of all UK lending and deposit activity.

To contact the reporter on this story: Stefania Spezzati in London at sspezzati@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ambereen Choudhury at achoudhury@bloomberg.net, Dale Crofts, Marion Dakers

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.