Middle East & North Africa Economic Outlook Gulf countries weathering the storm, but growth to weaken The Gulf economies have weathered the storm created by low oil prices relatively well this year, with foreign exchange reserves having been drawn down to sustain spending. Large savings mean that this... 15th June 2015 · 1 min read
Canada Data Response Teranet-National Bank House Prices (May) The rate of house price inflation edged up to 4.6% in May, from 4.4%, and the recent rebound in the existing home sales-to-new listings ratio indicates that is where it might remain over the rest of... 12th June 2015 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Update Have D.C. home prices hit a wall? Negative house price growth in D.C. in the first quarter is a worrying development given that the economy has underperformed and housing looks highly overvalued. This doesn’t necessarily signal the... 11th June 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Data Response Mortgage Lenders and Administrators Statistics (Q1) The introduction of new mortgage regulations depressed mortgage lending over the past year, and has incentivised lenders to turn to the non-regulated sector. Non-regulated loans, mainly buy-to-let... 9th June 2015 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Chart Pack Homebuilding finally gets back on track Housing starts surged by 20% m/m to a seven-year high of 1.14m annualised in April, as homebuilders finally put the weather-related difficulties at the start of the year behind them. Looking ahead... 8th June 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Chart Pack Early signs that housing demand is recovering With mortgage interest rates at record lows and wages finally starting to grow it is not surprising that housing market activity and house prices are now picking up. Those supports will remain in... 8th June 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Data Response Halifax House Prices (May) The slight fall in house prices in May reported by the Halifax doesn’t alter the bigger picture that prices are under steady upwards pressure. With very few homes for sale and the mortgage market... 4th June 2015 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Data Response Mortgage Applications (May) Refinancing activity took another big hit in May as mortgage interest rates rose to their highest level this year. However, mortgage applications for home purchase held on to their recent gains and we... 3rd June 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Data Response Nationwide House Prices (May) Underlying house price growth picked-up in May according to the Nationwide, as a slow recovery in housing demand has run up against very low levels of homes for sale. We expect that demand will... 3rd June 2015 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Data Response CoreLogic House Prices (Apr.) The CoreLogic index continues to show a rapid acceleration in house price inflation. But downward revisions to previous data, as well as the recent weakness in consumer spending, mean we are inclined... 2nd June 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Data Response Mortgage Lending (Apr.) 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... 2nd June 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Data Response Land Registry Repeat Sales Index (Apr.) 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... 1st June 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Data Response BBA Mortgage Lending (Apr.) 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... 28th May 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Can London house prices keep on rising? 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... 27th May 2015 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Data Response Case-Shiller Prices / New Home Sales (Mar./Apr.) New home sales reversed much of the previous month’s decline in April. For now, this doesn’t seem to be exerting much upward pressure on price growth. Nonetheless, the conditions are in place for... 26th May 2015 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Weekly Household debt becoming a burden The all-clear siren sounded by the Fraser Institute last week on household debt is misleading. The debt service metric they use only captures the interest cost portion of debt, which completely misses... 25th May 2015 · 1 min read
