UK Housing Market Update Mortgage rates will plateau rather than fall The lower-than-expected CPI inflation data for June probably signals the end of the upward march in mortgage rates. But mortgage rates are likely to plateau rather than fall as the Bank of England... 19th July 2023 · 2 mins read
UK Economics Update Higher Bank Rate forecast, but peak in sight Despite the softer tone of the CPI inflation data for June released earlier today, we have raised our forecast for the peak in Bank Rate. Rather than rise from 5.00% currently to a peak of 5.25%, we... 19th July 2023 · 3 mins read
Event Drop-In: The Fed and ECB’s July meetings – and a lookahead to the BoE 1690466400 Rate hikes from the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank at their July meetings look like done deals – it’s the messaging accompanying those decisions that may prove key to what the banks deci
Europe Economics Update Euro-zone probably contracted again in Q2 The latest data suggest that the euro-zone remained in recession in Q2. We think that the economy will continue to contract in the second half of the year as the impact of tighter monetary policy... 19th July 2023 · 2 mins read
UK Housing Market Update Revisiting our estimates of lossmaking rental properties Mortgage rates have risen to a level that could cause costs on a fifth of rental homes to exceed the rent. That is likely to lead to a significant number of forced rental property sales, which will... 19th July 2023 · 4 mins read
UK Economics Rapid Response UK Consumer Prices (Jun. 2023) The falls in CPI inflation from 8.7% in May to 7.9% in June (consensus 8.2%, BoE May MPR 7.9%) and core inflation from 7.1% to 6.9% (consensus 7.1%, CE 7.0%) are unlikely to be enough to prevent the... 19th July 2023 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Update How heavily are interest rates weighing on GDP? Splitting real GDP growth into the sectors most and least sensitive to interest rates provides some tentative evidence that higher interest rates are starting to weigh a bit more heavily on real... 18th July 2023 · 6 mins read
Europe Economics Update Switzerland’s inflation spectre slain Swiss inflation has fallen sharply this year to below 2% and we expect it to stay there for the foreseeable future. In contrast to the SNB’s view, we think second-round effects on wages will be quite... 18th July 2023 · 4 mins read
Europe Commercial Property Update Where are out of town retail prospects brightest? Out of town retail has been among the hardest hit commercial sectors since 2020, but with considerable variation among subsectors. While a weak consumer backdrop will drag on near term rent growth... 17th July 2023 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Weekly Paying particular attention to pay growth The government’s decision to grant pay rises of 5-7% for some public sector workers will probably add to the persistence of inflation and, for the Bank of England, trump the recent easing in some... 14th July 2023 · 9 mins read
Europe Economics Weekly Tighter policy on the cards, Germany’s China Strategy This week brought another raft of weak data on the euro-zone economy. And further struggles lie ahead, with the minutes of the June ECB meeting and a statement released by EU finance ministers... 14th July 2023 · 6 mins read
Europe Rapid Response Sweden CPI (June) The fall in CPIF inflation, the Riksbank’s target variable, in June was smaller than policymakers expected, which will encourage them to raise the policy rate from 3.75% to 4.00% at the next meeting... 14th July 2023 · 1 min read
UK Economics Update Banks rein in supply of credit, weaker demand will be next Rising interest rates have led lenders to rein in the supply of credit to households in Q2, but they haven’t yet curtailed demand. That said, the latest credit conditions survey doesn’t capture the... 13th July 2023 · 4 mins read
UK Commercial Property Update Credit Conditions Survey (Q2 2023) The narrowing in interest margins reported by mortgage lenders in the Credit Conditions Survey suggests that mortgage rates won’t fall significantly anytime soon. Meanwhile, it became more difficult... 13th July 2023 · 3 mins read
Europe Rapid Response Euro-zone Industrial Production (May) Euro-zone industrial production edged up in May but it probably still declined over Q2 as a whole and we think further weakness is ahead. 13th July 2023 · 2 mins read
UK Housing Market Update RICS Residential Market Survey (Jun. 23) As we expected, the rise in the average quoted mortgage rate from 4.4% in May to 5.1% in June caused agreed sales and new buyer enquiries to slump. The deterioration in market conditions has left... 13th July 2023 · 3 mins read