Filtered by Subscriptions: UK Housing Use setting UK Housing
In contrast to the earlier BBA data, the Bank of England reported a rise in approvals for house purchase in December. With mortgage rates at record lows, and consumer confidence at seven-year highs, that recovery is set to continue. … Mortgage Lending …
30th January 2015
House price growth was stable in the first month of 2015, as a fall in housing demand has been matched by limited supply. But there are signs that demand has picked-up recently, and we expect gains will accelerate slightly from here. … Nationwide (Jan.) …
29th January 2015
The number of mortgages approved for house purchase dipped again in December, and ended the year 28% lower than the beginning. But record low mortgage rates, the reforms to stamp duty, the return of real earnings growth and a reduction in regulatory …
27th January 2015
While the UK’s economic recovery has shown some signs of flagging recently, we think its best days may still lie ahead. Admittedly, it has depended on some unsustainable sources and the general election remains a wildcard for the economic outlook. But a …
26th January 2015
General elections have in the past had no discernable impact on the housing market. While it can be argued that the elevated level of uncertainty surrounding this year’s election will change that pattern, we suspect that the significance of the election …
22nd January 2015
Housing market activity dropped sharply in the second half of 2014 as fears of a rise in interest rates, high housing valuations and a lack of stock on the market constrained demand. But several factors suggest that housing market activity will now begin …
21st January 2015
While housing demand fell once again in December, the final RICS survey of 2014 reported that surveyors were hopeful that the reforms to stamp duty will boost both housing market activity and prices in 2015. … RICS Residential Market Survey …
15th January 2015
The surprisingly large 0.9% gain in house prices during December reported by the Halifax hides a further cooling in the underlying growth rate. But the stamp duty reform, strong economic backdrop and further fall in mortgage rates all suggest that prices …
8th January 2015
The housing market ended 2014 on a subdued note as demand, sales instructions, mortgage lending and transactions all declined. But with mortgage rates now also falling, and stamp duty reform set to boost buyers’ purchasing power, demand should see a …
7th January 2015
The BBA reported a further drop in mortgage approvals for house purchase in November, which are now down almost 20% compared to last year. However, the reforms to stamp duty and lifting of regulatory uncertainty should help mortgage lending to slowly …
23rd December 2014
The uncertainty generated by the slump in oil prices and the crisis in Russia have the potential to give a short-term boost to safe haven demand for prime central London homes. But beyond that shortterm support, and when combined with the reforms to …
19th December 2014
We estimate that the direct impact of the reform to stamp duty will boost house prices by a relativelyminor 0.6%. But the indirect effect of reducing upfront costs and boosting housing market sentimentwill be more powerful. Overall house prices will end …
17th December 2014
The November RICS survey reported that housing demand is continuing to contract, while prices are now expected to stall over the next quarter. But reforms to stamp duty, and the recent dip in mortgage rates, should help demand to recover slowly over the …
11th December 2014
The growth in mortgage lending has slowed, as new regulations have led to a decline in the share of high loan-to-value and loan-to-income mortgages. But alongside a further fall in the share of mortgages in arrears, that will put households in a stronger …
9th December 2014
The share of income a new buyer spends on their mortgage is an obvious way to measure housing affordability. But whether it is calculated using average house prices and incomes, or mortgage lender records, the data suggest that ultra-low interest rates …
8th December 2014
Although homeowners are currently carrying a lot of mortgage debt, compressing mortgage spreads and an expected concurrent increase in incomes means that they are not notably more sensitive to a rise in interest rates than in the past. … Are homeowners …
5th December 2014
House price gains have continued to cool according to the Halifax, reflecting the earlier drop in demand growth. The cut in stamp duty announced by the Chancellor yesterday will give house prices a boost over the next few months, but with house prices …
4th December 2014
Reforming Stamp Duty Land Tax from a slab to a graduated system is certainly an improvement, and should give a short-term boost to housing transactions. But it will also give another boost to overvalued house prices (at least those beneath £1m), and offer …
3rd December 2014
In line with the earlier BBA data, the Bank of England reported a further fall in mortgage approvals for house purchase in October. But with a strong economy and falling mortgage rates boosting consumer confidence, that downwards trend should soon be …
1st December 2014
Both the Nationwide and Land Registry reported a further cooling in underlying house price inflation in November and October respectively. With housing demand contracting, house price gains should continue to ease from here. … Nationwide (Nov.) & Land …
28th November 2014
The lack of a recovery in mortgage lending reflects a sharp slowdown in housing demand. However, with mortgage rates falling to new record lows, the economy set for robust growth and uncertainty over leverage ratios lifting, conditions for a gradual …
25th November 2014
Housing starts suffered a surprise dip the third quarter. But with work in progress perceived as inadequate to meet expected demand, builders will be keen to up production. … Housebuilding …
20th November 2014
A combination of very low inflation, reviving growth in earnings and further robust jobs growth should ensure that households’ real disposable incomes grow in 2015 at their fastest annual rate since 2003. Accordingly, we think that the recovery in …
19th November 2014
According to Rightmove, the number of homes that estate agents had for sale in November was at a record low for this time of year. However, with new home completions expected to show the first signs of recovery in the third quarter, and an easing in price …
18th November 2014
According to the RICS survey house price gains are continuing to ease as housing demand contracts. But with mortgage rates dropping to a new record low, and the strength of the jobs recovery finally starting to feed through to a sustained pick-up in real …
13th November 2014
The growth in mortgage lending continued to slow in the third quarter according to the CML. But the MMR has not led to a sharp drop in LTI or LTV ratios, and lending should pick up once housing demand starts to recover. … CML Lending Trends (2014 …
11th November 2014
The latest Halifax house price index brought further evidence that the sharp drop in active housing demand since the turn of the year has taken much of the steam out of house prices. … Halifax House Prices …
6th November 2014
House prices increased in October following a dip in the previous month, according to the Nationwide. But the bigger picture is that, with housing demand constrained, underlying house price growth will continue to soften. … Nationwide House Prices …
30th October 2014
According to the Bank of England, mortgage approvals fell once again in September, to a 14-month low. But with economic conditions still favourable, this weak patch shouldn’t last much longer. … Mortgage Lending …
29th October 2014
Following two months of very strong month-on-month growth, house prices dipped by 0.2% in September according to the Land Registry. Subdued demand suggests house price gains will continue to decelerate, with London expected to see a particularly rapid …
28th October 2014
The British Bankers’ Association reported that mortgage approvals dropped in September, leading to the first annual decline in loans for 18 months. But with lenders planning to boost the availability of secured finance over the remainder of the year, we …
23rd October 2014
Labour have now confirmed that their version of the mansion tax would be based around price bands, with homes valued at between £2m and £3m having to pay a flat rate charge of £3,000 per year. In theory, that should have a minimal impact on the prices of …
22nd October 2014
Housing market activity has cooled considerably over the past few months. A lack of homes available for sale, fears over future increases in interest rates, a drop in mortgage lending following the introduction of new regulations and buyers balking at the …
17th October 2014
Rapid growth in the UK’s workforce in spite of both demographic and international trends has been crucial to sustaining the economic recovery and preventing it from stoking inflation. Looking ahead, we are confident that labour supply will continue to …
16th October 2014
After blowing out during the financial crisis, mortgage interest rate spreads have been trending down for the past 18 months. As financial markets make further progress towards normality, that process should continue. However, new mortgage market …
14th October 2014
The September RICS survey has once again indicated that demand in the housing market is cooling, particularly in London. But there is tentative evidence that activity levels and price expectations are at least now stabilising. … RICS Residential Market …
9th October 2014
While the rise of 0.6% m/m in September on the Halifax measure of house prices is perhaps stronger than expected, it remains the case that underlying house price inflation is cooling. With housing demand very subdued, house price gains will weaken further …
8th October 2014
Credit availability contracted in both the commercial and residential sectors in the third quarter, with mortgages seeing a particularly severe decline. But while lenders expect the availability of loans for house purchase to recover over the final …
7th October 2014
The cooling in housing demand seen over the past few months is now feeding through into weaker house price gains. But mortgage lending and activity should begin to recover towards the end of the year, with demand supported by a strong economic backdrop …
3rd October 2014
The FPC has requested additional powers over loan-to-value and debt-to-income ratios, which will include buy-to-let lending. But with the housing market now cooling, and limits on high loan-to-income mortgages already in place, we doubt the FPC will make …
2nd October 2014
The Nationwide reported that house prices fell for the first time in 17 months in September, providing further evidence of a cooling housing market. With other forward looking indicators also weak, house price inflation is likely to remain subdued for the …
30th September 2014
The number of mortgages approved for house purchase dropped once again in August. Housing demand is cooling on the back of high house prices, but as price gains moderate and real earnings pick up, mortgage lending will recover. … Mortgage Lending …
29th September 2014
The large 1.0% m/m rise in house prices in August reported by the Land Registry reflects tight market conditions in the spring. But forward looking indicators continue to point to a cooling in housing demand, with the slowdown particularly evident in …
26th September 2014
The main high street banks cut the number of mortgages approved for house purchase for the second month in a row in August, to their lowest level in a year. Weak housing demand argues against a revival over the next couple of months, but beyond that a …
23rd September 2014
Mortgage arrears have returned to pre-crisis rates despite six years of falling real earnings. Instead the improvement is largely down to record low interest rates. All else equal, that suggests arrears could jump when rates increase. However, all else is …
19th September 2014
After growing at a rapid pace for 16 months, growth in demand for new homes has eased back sharply. But that appears to be driven primarily by a shortage of homes actually up for sale – if builders can up their production, finding a viable buyer should …
16th September 2014
The housing market appears to be at risk of becoming becalmed as buyers fret about sky high prices and the prospect of higher borrowing costs. … RICS Residential Market Survey …
11th September 2014
The mortgage market continues on its long road to recovery, with an increase in the total value of loans advanced and evidence that higher loan-to-value lending is finally seeing something of a comeback. … Mortgage Lenders and Administrators Statistics …
9th September 2014
Halifax reported that house prices were essentially flat in August, with a gain of only 0.1% during the month. Given the volatility of monthly data recently, it is hard to draw any firm conclusions from that, but underlying measures suggest some easing in …
8th September 2014
A lack of homes for sale is discouraging potential buyers, resulting in an easing in housing demand. And those who are looking are baulking at the prices sellers are demanding. Activity will recover as more homes come onto the market, with more realistic …
4th September 2014
