UK Housing Market Data Response Nationwide House Prices (Jan.) The small drop in Nationwide house prices in January, the first since June last year, is an early sign of the reversal in the 2020 house price surge we expect to see this year as the stamp duty... 2nd February 2021 · 2 mins read
UK Housing Market Data Response Mortgage Lending (Dec.) The strongest December since 2006 took total mortgage approvals in 2020 above their 2019 level. We still think that approvals will slump when the stamp duty holiday ends, but there are some tentative... 1st February 2021 · 2 mins read
UK Housing Market Outlook Near-term pain, medium-term gain Rising unemployment and the withdrawal of the raft of policies that supported the housing market in 2020 means that the pandemic will finally take its toll this year. The end of the stamp duty holiday... 27th January 2021 · 23 mins read
UK Commercial Property Data Response Credit Conditions Survey (Q4 2020) Very strong demand allowed banks to maintain tight lending standards in Q4 2020 while still increasing mortgage lending volumes. Of course, buyer demand is likely to drop sharply when the stamp duty... 21st January 2021 · 3 mins read
UK Housing Market Update New starts likely to remain weak as transactions slump Completions of new homes have made a full recovery from their collapse in Q2 2020, but builders appear more hesitant to start new projects. Given we expect the housing market to endure a rough patch... 18th January 2021 · 3 mins read
UK Housing Market Data Response RICS Residential Market Survey (Dec.) Sales and prices rose further in December, but there were clear signs that momentum was waning even before the new lockdown was imposed. Indeed, with the end of the stamp duty holiday looming, most... 14th January 2021 · 2 mins read
UK Housing Market Update Some drop in the London rent premium to be sustained The latest lockdown will keep rental demand in London very weak and prolong the drop in rents there. There is no doubt that they will recover in the summer if vaccines are successful and the virus... 13th January 2021 · 3 mins read
UK Housing Market Update Two examples of what leasehold reform could mean Government reform of leasehold will reduce payments from leaseholders to freehold landlords a lot in some instances. In this Update, we provide two examples of how the changes will affect... 11th January 2021 · 3 mins read
UK Housing Market Data Response Halifax House Prices (Dec.) 2020 may well have been the strangest year for the housing market since the Halifax house price index began in 1983. Despite the biggest drop in GDP since 1709, house prices rose by 7% y/y in Q4, the... 8th January 2021 · 2 mins read
UK Housing Market Data Response IHS Markit/CIPS Construction PMI (Dec.) The seventh consecutive construction PMI reading of over 50 in December mainly reflected a continued strong recovery in housing activity. The rebound in construction of commercial property has already... 7th January 2021 · 3 mins read
UK Commercial Property Data Response IHS Markit/CIPS Construction PMI (Dec.) The seventh consecutive construction PMI reading of over 50 in December mainly reflected a continued strong recovery in housing activity. The rebound in construction of commercial property has already... 7th January 2021 · 3 mins read
UK Housing Market Update 2021 likely to see house price surge reversed The government’s plan to end the furlough scheme and the stamp duty holiday in the spring sets the housing market up for a hangover from the surge in prices in 2020. As a result, we are more downbeat... 5th January 2021 · 3 mins read
UK Housing Market Data Response Mortgage Lending (Nov.) The increase in mortgage approvals for house purchase to over 100,000 for the first time since August 2007 underlines the remarkable strength of housing market activity. If moving house continues to... 4th January 2021 · 2 mins read
UK Housing Market Chart Pack A year of two halves After falling in May and June, house prices shrugged off the collapse in GDP and the decline in employment to surge in the second half of the year. (See Chart 1.) As a result, annual house price... 18th December 2020 · 8 mins read
UK Housing Market Update FPC hints that it will loosen lending rules Given a tightening in credit conditions, the Financial Policy Committee is probably right to be unconcerned by the recent surge in mortgage lending. In fact, the Committee is preparing to loosen its... 14th December 2020 · 3 mins read
UK Housing Market Data Response RICS Residential Market Survey (Nov.) After mortgage approvals hit a 13-year high in October, surveyors reported that sales rose yet further in November to what they expect to be the high-water mark. With the outlook for employment shaky... 10th December 2020 · 2 mins read
