British Pound Unchanged Despite Stronger Mortgage Data

The British pound is unchanged for the day despite stronger housing market and mortgage approvals data. The lack of reaction in the currency may be due to the fact that the rise in approvals was related to the planned introduction of home information packs on August 1. These HIPS contain legal documentation with title information and an Energy Performance Certificate detailing how energy efficient the home is. Sellers are now obligated to supply this information to buyers rather than buyers obtaining the information themselves.

The cost to the seller is nominal, but the effort is substantial. Overall, the housing market is still performing well despite a recent decline in prices. We will get more insight on how that has affected consumer confidence tomorrow with the release of the GfK survey. The CBI industrial trends survey is also due for release