Key Statistics: 29th May 2013

Construction

• Mortgage approvals in April edged up slightly, according to the British Bankers Association 59,800 mortgages were approved up from 59,000 in March and the size of the average mortgage approved increased to £156,000 from £153,000 over the same time period.
• House prices calculated by the ONS’s official index increased by 2.7%  in the 12-months to March; the largest increases were in London and the South East, up 8% and 3% respectively, however Scotland and Northern Ireland saw prices decline over the same period.
• House prices according to Hometrack increased by 0.4% in May compared to April, this is the largest monthly increase in this measure since May 2007, and again London and the South East drove the increase in prices.

UK Economy

• Inflation dipped during April to a 2.4% year on year increase in consumer prices, down from 2.8% during March, the largest downward contribution came from transport costs in the form of lower prices for motor fuel and air fares. This is the first time inflation has slowed since autumn 2012.
• Retail sales volumes in April were 0.5% higher than the volume seen in April 2012, and over the same period the value of retail trade increased by 1.3%, the main area of downward pressure came from food sales which were down 3.8% on a volume basis with the amount spent falling 0.2% over the same period.
• The ONS reported that the service sector activity in March expanded by 1.6% compared to March 2012, the largest contribution to this growth came from business services and finance, which contributed 0.9% points of growth.
• The second estimate of GDP for the first quarter of the year revealed that estimated growth over the period remained at 0.3% from the final quarter of last year. Other data in the release showed that investment over the same period declined by 0.8% and household spending increased by just 0.1%.