US Housing Market Data Response Mortgage Applications (May) For all the talk of a renewed US housing bubble, today’s mortgage applications data are a reminder that the recovery remains highly dependent on loose monetary policy. 5th June 2013 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Data Response CoreLogic House Prices (Apr.) House price gains of 12% per annum are clearly not sustainable. But in the short-term, news that the housing sector shows few signs of slowing will surely be something of a relief, following yesterday... 4th June 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Weak net lending is a brake on the housing market Mortgage approvals have increased marginally in recent months, helped by Government interventions. But that increase has been achieved with virtually no rise in net mortgage lending. Thus in aggregate... 4th June 2013 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Weekly Canada's housing downturn mirroring US slump Home building in Canada is on an ominous downward slope, similar in many ways to what happened in the early stages of the slump in the US. For this reason we think it is premature for policymakers to... 3rd June 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Data Response Mortgage Lending (Apr. 13) Mortgage approvals were virtually unchanged in April according to the Bank of England, providing further evidence that the Funding for Lending Scheme may just prevent further falls in mortgage lending... 31st May 2013 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Update Are inventory levels starting to normalise? The return of double-digit rates of house price inflation has grabbed most of the headlines in recent days. But equally significant are signs that sellers are returning to the market in force. We... 30th May 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Data Response Land Registry Repeat Sales Index (Apr. 13) Land Registry data for April point to house prices in the UK showing marginal gains, but that national average hides a very wide regional divergence. While prices in London are growing at an annual... 30th May 2013 · 1 min read
UK Data Response Nationwide House Prices (May. 13) The rise in house prices recorded by the Nationwide in May could further boost the growing sense of optimism regarding the housing market. But the fundamentals are still weak, and we think much of... 30th May 2013 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Focus Will Sweden & Norway lose their shine? Over the past five years, Sweden and Norway have performed remarkably well by the standards of the developed world, but their recoveries may be starting to run out of steam. Nonetheless, both... 29th May 2013 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Data Response Case-Shiller Home Prices (Q1) In the first quarter, the annual rate of house price growth moved back into double-digit territory on each of the three main Case-Shiller Home Price Indices. These were the first double-digit readings... 28th May 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Will mortgage interest rates fall further? With the base rate at 0.5% and wholesale funding rates at around 2%, it seems clear that mortgage interest rates can continue to fall. But the desire to raise capital, and concerns over what will... 24th May 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Data Response BBA Mortgage Lending (Apr. 13) Mortgage approvals edged up in April, aided by record low mortgage rates and other Government support for the housing market. But a fourth consecutive fall in net lending suggests that mortgage market... 24th May 2013 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Data Response New Home Sales (Apr. 13) Another rise in new home sales in March means that February’s unexpected dip has now been almost fully reversed. And with sales up by 29% over the past year, nearly double the 15% growth seen in the... 23rd May 2013 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Data Response Existing Home Sales (Apr. 13) The underlying recovery in existing home sales continued in April. But the real news in today’s NAR release was the drop in distressed sales and the gain in the inventory of homes for sale. 22nd May 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Focus Why do estimates of the average house price differ? The discrepancy between estimates of the average house price is essentially due to some measures being close to the mean, while others are closer to the median price. Housing valuations are best... 22nd May 2013 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Data Response Housing Starts (Apr.) A dip in housing starts in April had been widely expected. Although the drop was much larger than the consensus forecast, other forward-looking indicators strongly suggest that April’s slump will be... 16th May 2013 · 1 min read
