The Bank of England gave the housing market time to respond to November's interest rate rise by leaving rates at 3.75 per cent today, as widely expected.
After signalling that it would "move cautiously", the Bank's monetary policy committee (MPC) was waiting to see how great an effect last month's quarter-point rate rise would have on Britons' spending, economists said.
The MPC was also unlikely to raise rates less than a week before the chancellor's pre-Budget report, when the measure of its inflation target is expected to be changed and during the lead-up to Christmas.
The continued resilience of the housing market and consumer spending, and the associated surge in debt, have been the MPC's chief concerns in recent months.
But the latest indications suggest that the housing market is beginning to cool, before the rate rise has filtered through, and that consumers have already heeded the Bank's repeated warnings on debt.
