UK Housing Market Data Response Land Registry Repeat Sales Index (Feb.) Today’s Land Registry data highlight both the strength of house prices in London as well as their weakness in the North East. That divergence might well increase further this year, but we remain... 23rd March 2012 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Data Response BBA Mortgage Lending (Feb.) February’s drop in mortgage approvals is likely to reflect a combination of factors - the looming end of the stamp duty holiday, weak consumer confidence and, potentially, a more cautious mood among... 23rd March 2012 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update 2012 Budget - Stamp Duty takes centre stage again The new higher rate of stamp duty for £2m-plus properties, as well as a clampdown on avoidance schemes, is likely to dampen activity at the top end of the London housing market. But we doubt that the... 21st March 2012 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Data Response Existing Home Sales (Feb.) The 0.9% m/m fall in existing home sales in February suggests that the boost from the good weather has started to fade. But strong demand from investors and a growing willingness of banks to lend... 21st March 2012 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Will the North/South split in house prices increase? Our current forecasts envisage that the relatively tight market conditions in the South will result in the North/South house price gap widening by around 5% to 6% this year. But if we are right in... 20th March 2012 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Data Response Housing Starts (Feb.) The slight fall in housing starts in February leaves the recent upward trend broadly intact. Housing starts should rise further later this year on the back of continued employment growth and an... 20th March 2012 · 1 min read
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
