Mortgage approvals highlight a significant probability that we will see double-digit house price inflation this year. The MPC would do well to learn from last year's mistakes and react sooner rather than later.
The decent numbers we have seen will persist because mortgage approvals have rebounded so strongly and they are almost at the peak we saw in 2004.
Speculation that we will see deep interest rates is overdone. In the context of the widely anticipated rate cut in August, it is not surprising that the Halifax figures rose. Mortgage approvals suggest we should soon get better news on house-price inflation.