Filtered by Subscriptions: UK Housing Use setting UK Housing
The Bank of England reported that mortgage approvals for house purchase jumped 10% m/m in April, their biggest monthly rise since the start of 2009. A strong labour market and record low mortgage rates are supporting the market. But with lending standards …
2nd June 2015
According to the Land Registry a strong gain in house prices during April broadly offset a similar fall in March. With the stock of homes for sale at an historic low, the conditions are in place for further price gains this year. That suggests the low …
1st June 2015
According to the BBA, mortgage approvals in April saw their largest rise since September 2013. But while the strong economic backdrop will allow lending to continue to grow steadily, depressed new buyer demand and tougher mortgage regulations will prevent …
28th May 2015
Despite our belief that the London economy and labour market will continue to perform strongly, we don’t expect that to allow house prices in the capital to go on outperforming. Further house price growth will require another rise in the amount banks are …
27th May 2015
The jump in housing starts in the first quarter of 2015 more than reversed the dip seen during the second half of last year. As a result, starts are once again growing on an annual basis. But with housing demand still subdued, gains will be more modest in …
21st May 2015
Housing demand is beginning to recover in London, with surveyors reporting the first rise in new buyer enquiries in over a year in April. Activity in the prime central London market is also set to receive a boost now that a Mansion Tax is no longer on the …
20th May 2015
Households have rarely had it so good – no inflation, strong jobs growth, reviving earnings, a breather from austerity and falling borrowing costs. As a result, we think that real household spending could grow by a solid 3% this year, the most for a …
19th May 2015
Mortgage lending got off to a slow start in 2015, with advances for house purchase in the first quarter down by 9% on a year earlier. But there are signs that mortgage volumes are resuming their upwards trend, with loans to the buy-to-let sector …
The RICS April housing survey implies that a chronic lack of liquidity, not economic fundamentals, is driving the gains in house prices. The combination of depressed sales and rising prices is exactly the opposite of what the market needs right now. … …
14th May 2015
With the threat of a Mansion Tax removed, greater political certainty and interest rates likely to be held low for longer, the Conservative victory is an overall a positive for the housing market. But we wouldn’t want to overstate the impact, and house …
11th May 2015
The latest rise in the Halifax house price index might not be quite as strong as it initially seems. The underlying trend in the pace of house price growth actually eased a little. Nevertheless, it remains an uncomfortable fact that house price inflation …
8th May 2015
A few indicators suggest that the recovery in housing market activity is losing some traction. But with mortgage rates at record lows, employment at record highs and house price expectations rising, the upward trend should resume in the second half of the …
7th May 2015
The latest dip in housing starts has been accompanied by a sharp rise in construction costs. But it is shortages of labour and materials, rather than an increase in their costs, which seems to be acting as the major break on housebuilding . … Are high …
6th May 2015
Mortgage approvals for house purchased flatlined in March according to the Bank of England. Some buyers may be holding back to make use of the various home buying inducements currently being promised. But with mortgage rates continuing to fall that …
1st May 2015
The Land Registry reported a not insignificant fall of 0.8% in house prices in March. While that may appear to contradict yesterday’s far stronger Nationwide report, looking through the monthly volatility indicates that prices are still rising at a steady …
30th April 2015
A strong 1% rise in house prices during April brings the Nationwide into line with other measures which show that prices have been picking up since the start of the year. Record high employment combined with record low mortgage rates means the …
29th April 2015
According to the BBA, mortgage approvals for house purchase increased at the fastest monthly rate for over a year in March. Despite the slowdown in GDP growth in the first quarter, the economic backdrop is still very favourable, and mortgage lending will …
28th April 2015
Labour’s proposal for a three year stamp duty holiday for first-time buyers will distort the market and will not address any of the market’s deeper failings. That won’t help FTBs. Indeed, it could lead to new buyers paying inflated prices for homes. … …
27th April 2015
The sharp fall in the number of vacant dwellings over the past couple of years seems to support the view that there is a severe shortage of housing. But with other data showing that the dwelling stock is rising faster than the household population, the …
24th April 2015
A number of measures indicate that the strong economic backdrop has led to a boost in housing market sentiment. However, active housing demand remains very subdued. In part that reflects a lack of homes available to buy, with stock levels close to record …
21st April 2015
Economists and policymakers are significantly overestimating the permanent damage inflicted to the economy from the financial crisis and recession. We still think that the economy has the potential to grow strongly over the next few years without …
16th April 2015
The RICS survey reported that house prices are starting to gather pace. While demand is still subdued, the few buyers that are in the market are competing for a dwindling number of homes for sale. … RICS Residential Market Survey …
Extending Right to Buy to housing associations will be challenging to implement, and could make it more difficult to boost the supply of housing. And other things equal, moving people from the social rented to owner-occupation sector will over time act to …
14th April 2015
A favourable economic backdrop and record low mortgage rates have boosted consumer sentiment, and given households the confidence to think about buying a home. With banks now starting to raise mortgage availability as new rules and regulations bed in, …
9th April 2015
House prices according to the Halifax increased by 0.4% during March, pushing underlying growth to a six-month high. With employment at record highs at the same time as mortgage rates are at record lows, the conditions are in place for further gains this …
The Credit Conditions Survey painted a weak picture of the residential mortgage market, but confirmed that the commercial lending market is improving. While the supply of residential mortgages is expected to improve, borrowers seeking a high LTV or LTI …
8th April 2015
The ability to deduct mortgage interest before paying tax on rental income does not offer buy-to-let investors an advantage over owner-occupiers. But the fact that investors are not subject to the majority of regulations that govern first-time buyers and …
2nd April 2015
Mortgage approvals for house purchase increased to a six-month high in February, helped by record low mortgage rates and rising employment. As lenders become more comfortable with the new regulatory regime, that recovery should continue. … Mortgage …
31st March 2015
The Nationwide reported house prices more-or-less held their ground in March, pushing the annual rate down to its lowest level since September 2013. But the Land Registry reported stronger gains and with underlying housing demand strengthening, we expect …
27th March 2015
A strong economic backdrop, and early signs that lenders are seeking to raise the availability of loans helped mortgage approvals increase for the second month in a row. Both factors should continue to support the market for the rest of the year. … BBA …
25th March 2015
Despite a very favourable economic backdrop, the RICS new buyer enquires balance has yet to report any rise in housing demand. But other indicators do show that underlying demand is strengthening. That suggests many households are willing to buy, but are …
24th March 2015
The Help to Buy ISA has the potential to boost house prices over a two to six year horizon. But we expect it will dampen activity in the short term, as prospective buyers hold back to provide their deposits a helpful boost from the UK taxpayer. … Help to …
18th March 2015
Housing demand finally stabilised in February according to RICS surveyors, but the lack of homes for sale appears to be weighing on buyer enquiries. But that same lack of properties on the market is helping house prices to make further gains. … RICS …
12th March 2015
Despite a further drop in mortgage rates, banks and building societies have cut back their mortgage lending. That reflects a stricter lending environment, with the share of high loan-to-value and loan-to-income loans both declining during the fourth …
10th March 2015
While far from conclusive, a number of indicators are pointing to a revival in housing market activity. The reform to stamp duty will have helped to boost demand, but more fundamentally record low mortgage rates, rising earnings and greater confidence …
6th March 2015
Given how volatile the Halifax house price index has been in recent months, we wouldn’t read too much into the marginal fall recorded in February. After all, the underlying trend in prices is still strengthening, as record low mortgage rates and rising …
5th March 2015
House prices held their ground in February according to the Nationwide. But with mortgage approvals rising for the second consecutive month, and mortgage rates dropping yet again, prices will soon return to a gentle upwards trend. … Nationwide House …
2nd March 2015
House prices rose by a robust 1.3% over January according to the Land Registry, which brought a halt to the downward trend in the 3m/3m and annual rate of inflation. While it is too early to say for sure, that could reflect the reform to stamp duty. In …
27th February 2015
While housing market activity has been easing across the country, London has experienced by far the largest slowdown. Demand has contracted sharply thanks to prices which have reached a record high in relation to earnings. At the same time, given its …
26th February 2015
The latest statistics on household formation show there has been a surge in the number of households with non-dependent children. While most will view this as further confirmation of a housing shortage, in reality other factors offer a more plausible …
The January figures from the BBA suggest that mortgage lending has finally bottomed out, with approvals for house purchase rising for the first time since June. Now that expectations for interest rate rises are receding, the economy is on the up and stamp …
25th February 2015
Despite the Government pumping £1.75bn into the industry via Help to Buy equity loans, housing starts dropped for the second consecutive quarter at the end of 2014. But with early signs that housing demand is now at least stabilising, housebuilding …
19th February 2015
Advances for house purchase in the fourth quarter declined compared to the final quarter of 2013, reflecting the mood of buyer caution. But the share of loans to first-time buyers is still high, and LTI ratios edged back up in December. … CML Lending …
17th February 2015
The housing market has made a subdued start the year, with new buyer demand as yet failing to respond to the reforms to stamp duty. But there are some other signs that sales activity is beginning to pick-up. Given record low mortgage rates and a strong …
12th February 2015
The marked fall in energy prices over the past six months or so has provided households with a timely boost to their discretionary spending power and so provides another reason to think that the consumer recovery will maintain a robust pace in 2015. … …
11th February 2015
The slowdown in the housing market appears to be bottoming out, helped by record low mortgage rates, rising real earnings and the reform to stamp duty. If banks respond to the increase in demand by boosting lending volumes, house prices are set to record …
6th February 2015
The upwards revision to the ONS private rental data brings it closer into line with alternative measures, and so does not alter our views on the housing market. But the figures do suggest that while there may not be a national housing shortage, London is …
5th February 2015
House prices rose at a strong rate for the second month in a row in January, which could reflect the reform to stamp duty giving prices a boost. But while a healthy economic backdrop and record low mortgage rates will help prices make further gains in …
We are not forecasting a return to boom conditions in 2015. However, we do think that the outlook for both house prices and housing market activity is rather stronger than is typically believed, as a steady economic recovery and the reforms to stamp duty …
4th February 2015
