mpc.theyserveforyou.com

mpc: 16 The latest indicators of domestic demand had been mixed. Retail sales had bounced back in September, and the housing market had continued to show some signs of a mild recovery. An average of the mortgage lenders' house price indices had increased by 0.7% in October, following small monthly rises through Q3. Both house prices and the various activity indicators had been stronger than had been expected at the time of the August Inflation Report. But some other household sector indicators remained weak. Private car sales had fallen sharply in October while the GfK measure of consumer confidence had declined further in October. The BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor and the CBI Distributive Trades Survey had pointed to a slight improvement, but remained very weak. The annual growth rate of total lending to individuals had fallen slightly in September, while the growth of households' M4 had edged upwards. Overall, there seemed little evidence of a pickup in the growth of consumption in Q3; equally there seemed little evidence that growth had weakened.