Canada Chart Pack Housing imbalances continue to worsen Nothing illustrates the regional divergence in Canada’s economy like housing. While house prices continue to surge in the already most over-valued markets in Vancouver and Toronto, Calgary and other... 10th February 2016 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Update Are mortgage lending standards being eased too far? Survey evidence shows that banks have relaxed mortgage lending standards in every quarter for the past two years, and the average down payment is currently no larger than that seen just prior to the... 10th February 2016 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Is the shortage of homes for sale being overstated? There are some grounds to think that survey measures of the number of homes for sale may be being distorted by an increase in the total number of estate agent branches. That said, even after adjusting... 9th February 2016 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Chart Pack Housing market activity gradually marching upwards With transactions rising further during the month, activity in the market does seem to be warming up. Coupled with record low interest rates and growing competition between banks, transactions should... 4th February 2016 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Data Response Halifax House Prices (Jan.) The Halifax index recorded another strong monthly rise in house prices in January. But with house prices already high, we think that the current rate of growth won’t be sustained for much longer. 4th February 2016 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Data Response Mortgage Applications (Jan.) A fall in mortgage interest rates helped to boost mortgage applications in January. And although we think rates will increase this year, a strong labour market and easing in lending standards will... 3rd February 2016 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Data Response CoreLogic House Prices (Dec.) While we wouldn’t place too much faith in December’s reading of a strong 1.5% m/m gain in house prices, the latest CoreLogic report continues the recent theme of gradually rising house prices as... 2nd February 2016 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Data Response Mortgage Lending (Dec.) Despite the BBA reporting a drop in mortgage approvals for house purchase among the major high street banks last week, a stronger performance by smaller lenders meant that total approvals for house... 1st February 2016 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update How generous is London Help to Buy? In terms of its direct impact on a buyer’s monthly outlays, London Help to Buy appears to be a significantly more generous subsidy than the original equity loan scheme that it supplements. But in... 1st February 2016 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Data Response Land Registry Repeat Sales Index (Dec.) House price growth accelerated in December, with the southern regions of the UK continuing to lead the pack. But the latest drop in transactions growth may be a sign that the current pick-up in house... 29th January 2016 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Time to worry about property price bubbles? Hong Kong made international headlines last week after it was shown to have the least affordable property market in the world. But Hong Kong is not the only economy in the region where property prices... 29th January 2016 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus Can consumers continue to shoulder the recovery? Yesterday’s GDP figures showed that growth in Q4 was entirely driven by the services sector, suggesting that consumer spending continued to shoulder the economic recovery at the end of last year. And... 29th January 2016 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Focus Has the housing market recovery moved into a lower gear? There are signs that house prices are approaching the limit of what the current level of incomes and mortgage lending terms can sustainably support. As a result, we believe that the next few years... 28th January 2016 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Data Response New Home Sales (Dec.) New home sales followed in the path of existing sales by surging 10.8% in the final month of the year. But while the jump in existing sales was due to volatility caused by TRID, the rise in new home... 27th January 2016 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Data Response Nationwide House Prices (Jan.) & BBA Mortgage Lending (Dec.) Nationwide recorded slower house price growth in January, while BBA mortgage approvals for house purchase fell for a second consecutive month. But if many buy to let landlords rush to transact before... 27th January 2016 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Slowdown in GDP growth unlikely to be sustained Our calculations indicate that fourth-quarter GDP growth slowed to only 1.0% annualised, largely thanks to a more modest 2.0% gain in consumption. The latter is hard to square with the continued... 22nd January 2016 · 1 min read
