US Housing Market Data Response Existing Home Sales (Sep.) Following August’s very strong rise, existing home sales predictably gave up a little ground in September. Nevertheless, the bigger picture remains that, driven by extremely favourable valuation and... 19th October 2012 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Update A closer look at the presidential candidates’ housing plans The election campaign has been frustratingly light on detail with regards to housing policy. Piecing together what we have, however, it looks like anyone expecting either candidates’ housing plan to... 18th October 2012 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Data Response Housing Starts (Sep.) In another sign that the improvement in the housing market is gathering pace, housing starts smashed the consensus expectation for a small gain and rose by a very strong 15% m/m. 17th October 2012 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Has lenders’ forbearance reached a limit? Lenders' willingness to agree new payment plans for struggling mortgage borrowers seems undiminished. But the prolonged nature of the recession appears to have taken its toll on the ability of... 17th October 2012 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Focus Could a surge in housebuilding lead to a house price crash? Fears that a surge in housebuilding will lead to a house price crash, and therefore limit the potential boost to the economy, are unfounded. New-build supply is just too small a proportion of the... 15th October 2012 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Outlook Too soon to look for a housing market recovery Over the past few months, developments in the wider economy and the housing market have been broadly in line with our forecasts. Therefore, we have not made major adjustments to either our economic or... 11th October 2012 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Update New-build premium starting to drop The price premium attached to new-builds has fallen over the past six months. Moreover, continued strong investor demand, which is bidding up prices among the lowest tier of existing homes, should see... 10th October 2012 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Brazil's housing market: slowing but not stalling The surge in Brazilian property prices seen over the past few years appears to be slowing, but the housing market still looks significantly overvalued – perhaps by as much as 30-50%. In this month’s... 9th October 2012 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Chart Pack Mortgage interest rates drop further on QE3 The announcement of the third round of quantitative easing, during which the Fed will buy $40bn of mortgage-backed securities per month until the outlook for the labour market improves ‘substantially’... 9th October 2012 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Data Response RICS Housing Market Survey (Sep. 12) It will be tempting to regard the September RICS survey as early evidence that the housing market is returning to life. But the improvement is relatively modest. And until the key drivers of the... 9th October 2012 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Data Response Halifax House Prices (Sep.) Halifax recorded a further decline in house prices during September, which means prices have now fallen in every month of the third quarter. And with the economy still struggling to grow, this trend... 4th October 2012 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Data Response Mortgage Applications (Sep. 12) Mortgage interest rates have fallen further in response to the third round of quantitative easing. This translated into stronger demand for mortgages in the closing weeks of September, both from... 3rd October 2012 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Data Response CoreLogic House Prices (Aug.) The latest rise in house prices provides further evidence that the housing market is staging an encouraging, if still quite modest, recovery. Improving sales volumes and tight supply suggest that... 2nd October 2012 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Data Response Nationwide House Prices (Sep.) The Nationwide index ended the third quarter on a weak note. Taken with yesterday’s weak mortgage lending data it certainly seems as though the housing market is one area where there is precious... 2nd October 2012 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Data Response Mortgage Lending (Aug. 12) Mortgage approvals for house purchase were little changed in August. And with mortgage rates still increasing despite the introduction of the FLS, we are doubtful a sustained recovery is imminent. 1st October 2012 · 1 min read
UK Data Response CIPS Report on Manuf. (Sep.) & Mortgage Approvals (Aug.) Today’s economic data presented a uniformly weak picture of economic activity and will therefore go some way to dampening hopes that the “green shoots” of recovery are emerging. 1st October 2012 · 1 min read
