UK Housing Market Focus Will institutional investment in housing increase? Institutional investment in the private rented sector will not increase without a significant fall in house prices and continued strong demand from tenants. Even then, policy changes are required, but... 17th March 2011 · 1 min read
US Data Response PPI, Housing Starts (Feb.) & Current Account (Q4) The surge in PPI inflation won't sway the Fed. It has already said that it expects the commodity-related upturn will be "transitory". With core PPI inflation still low and the economic recovery... 16th March 2011 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Data Response FSA Mortgage Lending Statistics (Q4) The latest FSA mortgage lending statistics suggest that credit criteria tightened marginally in the fourth quarter. A lack of lending at higher loan-to-value ratios will continue to drag on activity... 15th March 2011 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Is now the time to fix? Assessed over a two year period, Bank Rate would have to rise to at least 2.75% to make it pay to fix at current mortgage interest rates. However, market expectations are for Bank Rate to rise to 2.25... 14th March 2011 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Data Response Mortgage Applic'ns (Feb.) & Negative Equity (Q4) Mortgage applications continued to trend lower in February, underlining the point we've made before that the latest rebound in home sales is being driven almost exclusively by cash buyers and... 9th March 2011 · 1 min read
US Data Response Mortgage Applic'ns (Feb.) & Negative Equity (Q4) Mortgage applications continued to trend lower in February, underlining the point we've made before that the latest rebound in home sales is being driven almost exclusively by cash buyers and... 9th March 2011 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update What do house-builders' results tell us about the housing outlook? Recent encouraging results from two of the major house-builders are unlikely to signal that the housing market has turned a corner, not least because they are backward-looking. And we can find little... 9th March 2011 · 1 min read
UK Data Response RICS Housing Survey & BRC Retail Sales (Feb.) House prices fell a little further in February and activity levels remained static at depressed levels. Consistent with that, the BRC survey brought further evidence that the squeeze on household... 8th March 2011 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Chart Pack Housing has never been this under-valued The further fall in house prices at the end of last year has made housing look more under-valued relative to income than ever before. (See Chart below.) This appears to be attracting cash buyers and... 7th March 2011 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Chart Pack Housing market struggling for direction Last month’s housing market news-flow may have been slightly more positive than of late, but it didn’t change the underlying picture of a market that remains severely depressed. And if unemployment... 4th March 2011 · 1 min read
UK Data Response Halifax House Prices (Feb.) The latest decline in the Halifax house price index underlines that the pressures weighing on prices are still very much with us. If, as we expect, these pressures build this year – for example, if... 4th March 2011 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Data Response RICS Lettings Survey (Jan.) Strong demand and another fall in supply meant that rents continued their upward trend in the three months to January. But that trend is likely to moderate during 2011 as the worsening sales... 3rd March 2011 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Update Cash won't be king for forever The fact that the recent rebound in existing home sales has been predominantly driven by cash buyers and investors places a question mark over the sustainability of that rebound. The concern is that... 2nd March 2011 · 1 min read
UK Data Response Nationwide House Prices (Feb.) & Mortgage Lending (Jan.) This morning’s data paints a picture of a housing market that is struggling for direction. But while the pace of any further falls is hard to judge, with mortgage demand so low, February’s modest rise... 1st March 2011 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Data Response Land Registry Repeat Sales Index (Jan.) The small gain in house prices in January is unlikely to signal an end to the weakening trend in house prices. Indeed, if our economic forecasts are correct, the downward pressures on house prices are... 28th February 2011 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Data Response New Home Sales (Jan.) & House Prices (Q4) The outlook for new home sales will remain bleak as long as foreclosed homes can be snapped up at heavily discounted prices. Meanwhile, by excluding many foreclosed sales, the FHFA index may not be... 24th February 2011 · 1 min read
