US Housing Market Update Higher mortgage rates won’t extinguish the housing recovery There are two reasons why a rise in mortgage rates won’t threaten the housing recovery. First, mortgage rates can rise only so far when tighter monetary policy is still years away. Second, even if... 19th March 2012 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Update Make no mistake; the housing recovery is well underway Concerns that a housing market recovery is not possible when prices are falling misses the crucial point that prices lag changes in demand and supply by up to six months. Make no mistake; a housing... 15th March 2012 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Chart Pack Tentative signs that prices are stabilising The latest data brought tentative signs that the stabilisation in house prices that we have been expecting may now be happening. In January, our seasonally adjusted measure of the CoreLogic index rose... 14th March 2012 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Data Response FSA Mortgage Lending Statistics (Q4) Mortgage credit conditions did not loosen materially in the final quarter of last year, suggesting that without the temporary support to housing market activity from the stamp duty holiday, mortgage... 13th March 2012 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Data Response RICS Housing Survey & CLG House Prices (Feb/Jan) The rise in activity generated by the approaching end of the stamp duty holiday appears to have boosted house price expectations. Whether this is sustained or not is likely to depend on whether the... 13th March 2012 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Data Response CoreLogic Prices & Mortgage Apps. (Jan./Feb.) We’ve been expecting house prices to stop falling soon and January’s CoreLogic index provided the first tentative sign that this is happening. But the continued weakness of mortgage applications... 7th March 2012 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Chart Pack End of the Stamp Duty holiday will test the market’s strength The rise in demand in recent months appears to have had little impact on house prices. And transactions are likely to drop once the stamp duty holiday ends later this month. With consumer confidence... 7th March 2012 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Data Response RICS Lettings Survey (Jan.) Today’s RICS survey shows a significant drop in the pace of residential rental growth and thus seems to support our view that affordability constraints in the sector are beginning to bite. 7th March 2012 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Outlook Housing is healing Lingering constraints on demand and the overhang of foreclosures mean that the healing of the housing market will be a long and gradual process, but it does at least appear to be underway. Home sales... 6th March 2012 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update How significant are the latest mortgage rate rises? The increases in mortgage interest rates highlighted by the press this week are fairly small, are coming off a very low base and will affect a limited number of borrowers. But they should not be... 6th March 2012 · 1 min read
UK Data Response Halifax House Prices (Feb.) On its own, the latest dip in house prices is nothing to be too concerned about. But with mortgage interest rates edging up again and unemployment still rising, the downward trend in prices is likely... 6th March 2012 · 1 min read
UK Data Response Nationwide House Prices (Feb.) Following falls in December and January, the modest rise in the Nationwide house price index in February is symptomatic of a market that is still struggling for direction. Given that prices are still... 1st March 2012 · 1 min read
UK Data Response Mortgage Lending (Jan.) Mortgage approvals are being driven higher by the looming end of the first-time buyer stamp duty holiday and are likely to fall back sharply come April. Thereafter, rising unemployment and falling... 29th February 2012 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Data Response Case-Shiller House Prices (Q4) Although the rate at which house prices are falling accelerated at the end of last year, it may only be a few more months before the decline seen over the last five years comes to an end. We expect... 28th February 2012 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Update Conflicting aims of REO and mortgage fee-raising policies The Administration’s housing policies are still not adequately addressing the fact that housing supply is too high and that demand is too low. The new details of the plan to sell REOs to investors to... 28th February 2012 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Data Response Land Registry Repeat Sales Index (Jan.) Given other house price reports already in, January’s jump in the Land Registry house price index was a little surprising. However, given the volatility of the monthly data and the fact that December... 28th February 2012 · 1 min read
