Carney’s Housing Alarm Bell Nudges BOE Toward Stimulus Exit

Mark Carney is moving the Bank of England in a direction it hasn’t taken in more than six years.

The governor took steps yesterday to head off a potential housing bubble by diluting a credit-boosting program, two weeks after raising growth forecasts and signaling interest rates might increase sooner than previously projected. Underpinning the need for the move were data today showing house values at the highest level in more than five years, and banks approving the most mortgages since 2008.