The UK High Street banks, representing around two-thirds of British mortgages, reported a drop sharp drop to 35,300 mortgages against above 40,000 expected. The figure for January was revised down from 40,630 to 39,560.
The figure, known also as the BBA Mortgage Approvals, leads the official government data. They also reported that consumer credit growth slowed the most meager level since October, with 3.8%. In addition, the headline is weakest in nearly six years: the worst since April 2013.
GBP/USD responded with a drop below 1.3170. The British Pound has mostly moved to the tune of Brexit headlines, but the significant miss, even though it is coming from a second-tier figure.