US Housing Market Data Response Housing Starts (Aug. 13) The small rise in starts in August, which was below expectations and would have been a fall were it not for downward revisions to earlier data, is not as disappointing as it first appears. The figures... 18th September 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Have house prices returned to pre-crisis highs? The ONS house price index, which shows that prices in England have returned to pre-crisis highs, has made plenty of headlines today. But compared to other indices, the ONS measure places greater... 18th September 2013 · 1 min read
UK Economics Update Housebuilding should continue to support the recovery Although there are worries that the Government’s housing schemes will push up house prices rather than activity, housebuilding has picked up and we expect it to give further support to the recovery. 16th September 2013 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Weekly Canada's home ownership fling worse than US The third and final wave of data from Statistics Canada's National Household Survey (NHS) published last week reveal that the Canadian home ownership rate surpassed the record peak at the height of... 16th September 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Should there be a cap on house price inflation? A boom in house prices would certainly not be sustainable, and the authorities should take action to prevent this. But the Bank of England already has new tools to prevent any unwarranted rise in... 13th September 2013 · 1 min read
Canada Data Response Teranet-National Bank House Prices (Aug.) The latest pick-up in house price inflation is consistent with the reported rebound in existing home sales. But as mortgage rates continue to rise, we expect falling home sales will eventually result... 12th September 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Growth in buy-to-let lending lagging overall market There was a further slight uptick in mortgage approvals in September, but it would be premature to view this as the start of a sustained recovery in the housing market. The improvement was modest, and... 12th September 2013 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Brazil’s housing bubble revisited A warning from US economist Robert Shiller about the recent sharp rise in Brazilian house prices has revived fears of a property bubble in Latin America’s largest economy. Our position remains that... 12th September 2013 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Chart Pack Higher mortgage rates denting housing market activity The steady increase in mortgage interest rates is now having a more noticeable effect on housing market activity. Mortgage applications for refinancing have more than halved since rates began rising... 11th September 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Dominance of first-time buyers unlikely to last Business cycles in advanced economies have been exceptionally closely aligned in recent years because of the global financial crisis, but they are likely to become less so in future. Although a global... 11th September 2013 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Update Housing's support to second-half GDP unlikely to last Housing investment might continue to support GDP growth over the second half of this year, but there are still tentative signs that a day of reckoning lies around the corner, with housing likely to... 10th September 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Data Response Mortgage Lenders and Administrators Statistics (Q2) A robust year-on-year rise in gross mortgage lending during the second quarter of 2013 provides further evidence that the mortgage market is returning to life. But first-time buyers without a large... 10th September 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Data Response RICS Residential Market Survey (Aug.) Another strong rise in the demand for homes, coupled with a lagging response on properties being put up for sale, has led to a rise in house prices. But the conditions for a sustainable rise in first... 10th September 2013 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Outlook Recovery slowing to a more sustainable pace The spike in mortgage interest rates has taken a toll on housing market activity, but we don’t expect it to knock the housing recovery off course. Nevertheless, with the inventory of homes for sale... 9th September 2013 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus Will the housing market give consumers a boost? Past housing market upswings have all coincided with above-average rates of consumer spending growth. But it is easy to overstate the strength of the direct linkages between the two. Therefore, unless... 9th September 2013 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly Is the recovery too reliant on the housing market? Concerns are building that the economic recovery is too reliant on an unsustainable boom in the housing market. But we think that this is giving the housing market too much credit for the turnaround... 9th September 2013 · 1 min read
