Mortgage approvals rise in Britain

LONDON, June 2 (UPI) -- The Bank of England said Tuesday that mortgage approvals rose sharply in April compared to March.

The bank said 43,201 mortgages were approved in Britain in April, 8 percent more than the 40,038 approved in the previous month.

The increase was one of several signs of economic growth noted recently, even though mortgage approvals were 21.9 percent lower than in April 2008, The Times of London reported.

In other economic news, Britain's Purchasing Managers Index remained in contraction, but rose closer to the break-even point of 50, coming in at 45.9 in May. In April, the PMI was 38.1.

The PMI hit a low point of 27.8 in February, the newspaper said.

Property values in Britain continued to fall, but the rate of decline slowed to 0.3 percent in April, the Land Registry said.

"The further rise in mortgage approvals ... ties in with widespread evidence that housing market activity is trending up modestly as it is supported by sharply reduced mortgage interest rates and the substantial fall in house prices from their 2007 peak levels," IHS Insight Chief Economist Howard Archer said.