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mpc: 16 On the expenditure side, the revisions to the National Accounts data released at the end of September had suggested that demand was better balanced than previously thought. The level of business investment was estimated to have been higher, and the outlook was more encouraging. The most recent indicators suggested that consumer spending had not decelerated by as much as the Committee had previously expected. Retail sales had grown by 1.2% in the third quarter, and the quarterly growth rate had averaged 0.9% since the first half of 2002. The CBI Distributive Trades survey for October had pointed to continuing buoyancy into 2003 Q4. However, the persistent strength of house price inflation seemed to be having less upward impact on consumption than would have been expected on the basis of historical experience.