The British pound continues to be weighed by housing market concerns.
Although Halifax, the nation’s largest mortgage lender has yet to reject new mortgage applications, they have started to preference customers willing to put down a larger deposit on home loans. More specifically, they are offering a lower interest rate to people who can make a down payment of 25% or more on their home and hiking the rates for people who borrow more than 75%. This will reduce the ability of UK citizens to finance the purchase of new homes, which would exacerbate the problems in the housing market and slow any eventual recovery. Meanwhile the Bank of England is the only central bank expected to alter interest rates this week. If consumer confidence also proves to be weak, this will build the case for a 25bp rate cut.