Europe Economics Update German export recovery will be gradual June’s surge in exports brought hope that the key German external sector is on the road to recovery. Unfortunately, there are good reasons to think that the pace of improvement will slow sharply in... 12th August 2009 · 1 min read
Europe Commercial Property Update Expectation of more job losses points to falling office rents Recession in the European economy is hitting the labour market hard. Recent survey data from the European Commission show that employment intentions in the service sector may be turning a corner, but... 12th August 2009 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Car purchase incentives to provide only a limited boost Government incentives to buy new cars probably prompted euro-zone consumer spending to rise at the strongest rate in two years in Q2. But this boost will be partly reversed as the schemes are phased... 11th August 2009 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update ECB holds its line After leaving interest rates unchanged at 1.0% at it August meeting, President Trichet suggested that the ECB is unlikely to adopt new measures to stimulate the economy in the immediate future. We... 6th August 2009 · 1 min read
Europe Chart Pack Consumers benefiting from falling prices Recent weeks have seen some signs of an improvement in the consumer sector. Although retail sales fell by 0.4% in Q2, the drop was not as sharp as Q1’s 0.8% fall. Together with a 12% surge in car... 5th August 2009 · 1 min read
Europe Commercial Property Update Currency depreciation adds to emerging European rental downturn Headline rental values in emerging European commercial property markets have been under downward pressure from both weak occupier demand amid the global economic downturn, and from currency... 4th August 2009 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Swiss industry not out of the woods July’s pick-up in the Swiss manufacturing PMI was an encouraging sign for the industrial sector, as is the Swiss National Bank’s continued intervention to prevent a renewed appreciation of the franc... 3rd August 2009 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Update Swiss industry not out of the woods July’s pick-up in the Swiss manufacturing PMI was an encouraging sign for the industrial sector, as is the Swiss National Bank’s continued intervention to prevent a renewed appreciation of the franc... 3rd August 2009 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update NAMA unlikely to solve Ireland’s bank problems The Irish Government’s plans to set up a “bad bank” should eventually help to reduce the uncertainty surrounding the size of banks’ losses. But the sheer scale of the problems in the banking sector... 31st July 2009 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Focus How much slack is there in the euro-zone? The damaging effects of the recession and financial crisis have almost certainly hit the euro-zone’s productive potential, suggesting that conventional estimates of spare capacity exaggerate the... 30th July 2009 · 1 min read
ECB Watch ECB sticking to its guns The ECB looks set to leave interest rates on hold at 1.0% at its August policy meeting and is very unlikely to announce any new measures to stimulate the economy. The Bank is biding its time for now... 30th July 2009 · 1 min read
Europe Commercial Property Update 2009Q2 RICS survey points to stabilising investment markets The latest global property survey from the RICS, released earlier this week, adds to the mounting, but tentative, evidence that investor demand for European commercial property could be stabilising... 30th July 2009 · 1 min read
Europe Commercial Property Update Weak lending to restrain investment market recovery Today’s bank lending survey from the ECB, suggests that there is little imminent prospect of an end to the tightening in credit availability and lending criteria for euro-zone businesses. For property... 29th July 2009 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Decline in bond spreads may not go much further The recent decline in the spread between German and other euro-zone government bond yields is an encouraging sign that rising fiscal deficits in the region are unlikely to lead peripheral governments’... 28th July 2009 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Euro-zone Monetary Indicators Monitor (Jul.) The latest euro-zone money figures revealed that lending growth continues to slow. Of course, other things, equal, the ECB’s recent 12-month liquidity injection should help to boost bank lending in... 27th July 2009 · 1 min read
Europe Commercial Property Update Euro-zone yields stabilise in Q2, but unlikely to have peaked Recent data show yields stabilised in most euro-zone office and retail markets in 2009Q2. While there are reasons to believe this may be the peak for yields, we are sceptical. Investor demand has... 23rd July 2009 · 1 min read
