Filtered by Subscriptions: UK Housing Use setting UK Housing
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Housing market continues to shrug off sluggish economy The 0.7% m/m rise in the Halifax house price index in January is at odds with the muted 0.1% m/m increase in the Nationwide …
7th February 2025
Rise in interest rates puts a dampener on construction activity The headline CIPS construction PMI dropped to 48.1 in January, from 53.3 in December, indicating the first contraction in activity since February 2024. The decline in the headline balance …
6th February 2025
This is the first in a series of pieces that revisit our pandemic-era forecasts about the future of global real estate markets and cities and explore how they will evolve in the coming years. This dedicated page highlights key analysis from our earlier …
5th February 2025
Overview – Our forecast that mortgage rates will fall further than widely expected suggests that a decent recovery in transactions will allow house prices to rise by around 3.5% this year and by 4.5% next year, which would be a bit more than the …
4th February 2025
Recovery in mortgage lending will pause in Q2 Demand for mortgage credit jumped in Q1 in response to the drop in mortgage rates over the second half of 2023. But a rise in financial market interest rates this week, due to higher-than-expected inflation in …
1st February 2025
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Higher mortgage rates starting to weigh on prices, but it won’t last Although the muted 0.1% m/m rise in Nationwide house prices in January was slightly worse than expected …
31st January 2025
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Downbeat outlook isn’t heavily weighing on households’ financial decisions December’s money and lending figures suggest the downbeat economic outlook isn’t weighing on households …
30th January 2025
The Shape of the Fractured World in 2025 The share of the fracturing global economy that is accounted for by China and its geopolitical allies contracted in 2024, leaving it under a third the size of the US bloc at the start of 2025. This fall was in part …
17th January 2025
Higher mortgage rates appear to be weighing on housing demand December’s RICS survey suggests that the relief rally after the Budget may have started to fade at the end of last year and the recent rise in mortgage rates have finally began to weigh on …
16th January 2025
With long-dated gilt yields hitting multi-decade highs, we held an online Drop-In session on Wednesday to discuss the outlook for the gilt market and the implications for government policy and the UK macro and housing market outlook. (See a recording here …
9th January 2025
Construction activity continues to expand despite drag from housing The headline CIPS construction PMI eased to a six-month low of 53.3 in December, from 55.2 in November, although that indicates construction activity is still expanding. The decline in …
7th January 2025
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. House prices may be losing a bit of momentum going into 2025 The small fall in the Halifax house price index in December is at odds with the chunky rise in the Nationwide measure …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Downbeat sentiment continues to weigh on households’ financial decisions November’s money and lending data suggests that households’ caution with their borrowing and saving ahead …
3rd January 2025
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Strong end to 2024 and outlook for 2025 better than most expect December’s better-than-expected 0.7% m/m increase in Nationwide house prices means that prices continued to gather …
2nd January 2025
The sharp rise in transactions in October and the acceleration in house price growth in November suggest some relief rally or pent-up demand after the Budget is more than offsetting the recent rises in mortgage rates. In any case, if we’re right that Bank …
17th December 2024
The Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) November house price data release indicates unusually large increases in new build house prices in recent months. We suspect that this reported rise does not reflect genuine trends in the current market. In fact, …
12th December 2024
Housing market resilient to higher mortgage rates November’s RICS survey provides further evidence that housing activity and prices remained resilient to the rise in mortgage rates in November. And our view that mortgage rates will start to fall again …
This publication has been updated to reflect changes to our forecasts after the October GDP release on 13th December 2024. Overview – Despite the deterioration in the outlook for the UK's key trading partners, we remain optimistic that UK GDP growth will …
10th December 2024
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Post-Budget relief rally more than offsets higher mortgage rates The leap in Halifax house prices in November mirrors the jump in the Nationwide measure and suggests that some …
6th December 2024
Jump in commercial activity supports a rise in the headline balance The headline CIPS construction PMI increased to 55.2 in November, from 54.3 in October, indicating an expansion of construction activity. The rise was entirely driven by the commercial …
5th December 2024
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Shrugging off higher mortgage rates November’s surprisingly large rise in the Nationwide house price index suggests the housing market is picking up momentum despite recent rises …
2nd December 2024
We held an online session on US import tariffs on 26th November. (See a recording here ). In this Update we answer the questions we were most asked. What are Trump’s motives for threatening tariffs and will he follow through? Trump has spoken about using …
29th November 2024
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Pre-Budget jitters clearly influenced households’ financial decisions October’s money and lending figures suggest that Budget worries prompted households to become more cautious …
Even if the government’s easing of planning rules were to mean that at least 300,000 new home approvals in England were granted a year, the number of construction workers would need to rise significantly. We estimate about 500,000 extra construction …
26th November 2024
President-elect Donald Trump’s first threatened tariffs since the election are designed to extract concessions on drug trafficking and illegal border crossings, which means it may be possible for the countries targeted – Canada, Mexico and China – to head …
We discussed the global impact of higher tariffs in a Drop-In on Tuesday, 26th November. Click here to watch the 20-minute online briefing. In this Focus, we construct a framework to explore the channels through which an import tariff works, which we use …
25th November 2024
Our new forecast that Bank Rate will fall slower and not as far means that we now think mortgage rates will decline from 4.4% in October to 3.9% by the end of 2026, rather than to 3.5%. But we still think that mortgage rates will fall by more than most …
20th November 2024
Our senior economists hosted an online briefing to discuss the final Fed, ECB and Bank of England decisions of 2024. During the session they highlighted key takeaways from the latest communications and addressed key issues, including: What inflation and …
19th November 2024
Our forecast that Bank Rate will fall slower means that we now think mortgage rates will decline from 4.4% now to 3.9% by the end of 2026, rather than to 3.5%. But we still think that mortgage rates will fall by more than most expect and that house price …
14th November 2024
Improvement in housing market sentiment may be overdone October’s RICS survey points to robust house price growth but the Budget means that mortgages rates will probably fall a bit slower than we previously thought, which will restrain house prices next …
Could the collapse of Germany’s ruling ‘traffic light’ coalition open the way to more effective governance for Europe’s largest economy? What bearing will political uncertainty have on its financial markets? How will Donald Trump’s pending return …
11th November 2024
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. House prices rise to record high and will accelerate next year October’s 0.2% m/m rise in Halifax house prices suggests that the recent momentum in house prices has a bit further …
7th November 2024
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Mortgage rates will still fall next year and support house prices October’s 0.1% m/m rise in Nationwide house prices was a bit weaker than expected (consensus forecast +0.3% m/m, …
1st November 2024
The policies announced in yesterday’s Budget won’t have a significant bearing on the housing market. But the prospect that interest rates are a bit higher may soften demand and creates some downside risk to our forecast for house price growth of 5.0% next …
31st October 2024
This Budget is big, both in the way it defines the government’s plans and the money it raises and spends. The key point is that it loosens fiscal policy relative to previous plans and is therefore consistent with GDP growth perhaps being a bit stronger …
30th October 2024
Our more detailed and update analysis can be seen here . Despite large rise in taxes, Budget still boosts economy As the Budget loosens fiscal policy relative to previous plans, it is consistent with GDP growth perhaps being a bit stronger and interest …
Budget has yet to affect households’ financial decisions Although consumer confidence has fallen ahead of the Budget, there is little evidence in September’s money and lending figures that Budget worries are having a big influence on households’ financial …
29th October 2024
Overview – A fall in mortgage rates from 4.5% now to around 3.6% in late 2025 may mean that, despite increases in taxes in the Budget on 30 th October, house prices rise by 5.0% in 2025 rather than the consensus forecast of 2.5-3.0%. By allowing the …
22nd October 2024
Balancing investing in the economy and fiscal credibility In her first Budget on Wednesday 30 th October the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, faces the unenviable task of trying to achieve three objectives. First, being able to say there will be “no return to …
16th October 2024
The Bank of England’s Q3 Credit Conditions Survey suggests house prices will rise further in Q4 and supports our view that a mild slowdown in GDP growth this year is more likely than another recession. Despite the fall in the average quoted mortgage …
10th October 2024
Surge in supply ahead of Budget may temporarily dampen prices A leap in the number of homes being put up for sale in September, perhaps due to fears of second-homes and rented properties being subject to higher capital gains tax after the Budget, may …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Confirmation house prices rebounded in Q3 The third consecutive monthly rise in the Halifax house price index in September provides further evidence that the falls in mortgage …
7th October 2024
Construction activity rebounds to 2½ year high The headline CIPS construction PMI rebounded to a 2½ year high of 57.2 in September as the prospect of lower interest rates, rising capital values and a government committed to boosting home construction …
4th October 2024
Overview – We are not expecting the planned fiscal policies of the government to derail the economy – we expect GDP to grow by 1.0% this year and by a decent 1.5% in both 2025 and 2026. Instead, the main influence of the government’s plans to raise public …
1st October 2024
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Fading drag on credit from higher interest rates is supporting the economy August’s money and lending data provide further evidence that the gradual improvement in credit demand …
30th September 2024
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. House prices rise in Q3 and will rise further next year September’s 0.7% m/m rise in Nationwide house prices suggests that August’s 0.2% m/m fall was just a blip and that the …
We doubt the small fall in Nationwide house prices in August was the start of a renewed downturn. Surveys suggest the recent declines in mortgage rates have led to an increase in housing demand, while a significant near-term pick-up in supply appears …
17th September 2024
By making life harder for unscrupulous landlords, the Renters’ Rights Bill may help drive tenant demand toward institutional landlords who are already complying with most aspects of the proposed legislation. That said, an apparent ‘win-win’ ability for …
13th September 2024
The structural deterioration in the fiscal situation suggests that a tight grip on the public finances in the Budget on 30 th October will be necessary. That’s why we think the government will maintain existing plans for fiscal policy to be tightened, but …
12th September 2024
Rising demand points to faster house price growth August’s RICS survey provided further evidence that housing demand is picking up in response to the recent falls in mortgage rates. What’s more, our view that Bank Rate will be lowered by more than …
