Global recession seals real estate downturn In line with changes in our global economic view, we have made significant downgrades to our commercial real estate forecasts for the next couple of years. As a result, we now expect a much bigger drop in property values next year that will cause annual returns to be negative in all our key markets. In view of the wider interest, we are also sending this UK Commercial Property Update to clients of our US and Europe Commercial Property Services. 8th November 2022
Fracturing and financial flows The trend towards ever more “financial globalisation” has already decelerated and will probably slow further as the global economy fractures and policymakers favour resilience over efficiency. While a disorderly rupture of financial relations remains unlikely, links between the US and China will weaken. 6th October 2022
Housing downturns starting to take toll on economies Housing downturns are well underway in many countries and house prices and activity generally have further to fall. Construction activity is already suffering as a result. While it is hard to detect any major adverse effect on household spending, this probably just reflects time lags. We continue to think that weak housing markets will contribute to the recessions that we expect in most major DMs this year. Drop-Ins: Property markets in 2023: We’re holding two special 30-minute briefings on the 2023 housing and commercial property outlooks on Tuesday, 17th January, covering first the UK and Europe and then the US. Click below to register for either or both sessions: UK/Europe outlook (09:00 GMT/17:00 SGT) US outlook (11:00 EST/16:00 GMT) 16th January 2023
A year of disinflation Inflation is finally falling and we envisage further sharp declines in almost all economies during 2023. In most cases, this disinflation will be more dramatic than either the consensus of economists or central banks predict. A large part of the fall will be down to energy and food effects and the key question is whether underlying inflation will also decelerate. But with economies sliding into recession and unemployment likely to rise, we suspect that core price pressures will ease, allowing central banks to end or even start to reverse their policy tightening. Note: We’ll be answering your inflation questions and discussing the key takeaways from this report in a special Drop-In on Thursday, 5th January at 10:00 EST/15:00 GMT. Register here. 3rd January 2023
What lower gas prices mean for the euro-zone We have revised our European wholesale gas price forecast down and, as a result, now expect euro-zone inflation to fall more rapidly than we had previously anticipated. In turn, this means that real incomes and economic activity might be slightly stronger, though the impact will probably be quite small. We still think that the ECB will raise its deposit rate to a peak of 3% this year, but lower gas prices increase the chance that the Bank starts loosening monetary policy a bit sooner than we had expected. Drop-Ins – The World In 2023 (10-11 January): Will 2023 be another rollercoaster year for economies and markets? Join our senior economists for these special briefings on 10th and 11th January to find out what to expect in the coming 12 months. Register now. 5th January 2023
Broad-based decline in core inflation coming soon Despite the unanticipated strength in recent months, there are still good reasons to expect core inflation to fall markedly next year. That moderation will not require a deep recession and/or significant rise in the unemployment rate, although we do expect weak demand and easing labour market conditions to play a supporting role. Most of the coming decline in core inflation is already “baked into the cake” – private sector rent measures and other housing indicators point to a significant drop back in shelter cost inflation, while CPI medical care services will fall as the ridiculous spike in health insurance prices is reversed. The stronger dollar, easing supply shortages and collapse in transportation costs all but guarantee a slump in core goods inflation. We expect core CPI inflation to be below 2.5% by end-2023 and core PCE inflation to be around the 2% target. Both measures should fall below 2% in 2024. 2nd November 2022
China commodity imports set to rebound this year Commodity imports generally rose in December, but fell in 2022 as a whole. In a possible sign of optimism around reopening, soybean imports skyrocketed. China’s unexpectedly swift switch to living with COVID should see commodity imports, particularly crude oil, recover this year. 13th January 2023
A lower gas price forecast, but prices to stay high European natural gas prices have halved over the past month as usage stayed low and LNG imports hit record highs. Barring dramatically colder weather, EU gas storage looks set to be in a more comfortable position than we had expected. As a result, we have revised down our end-2023 gas price forecast. Drop-Ins – The World In 2023 (10-11 January): Will 2023 be another rollercoaster year for economies and markets? Join our senior economists for these special briefings on 10th and 11th January to find out what to expect in the coming 12 months. Register now. 6th January 2023
The World in 2023: Property prices to plunge Property markets rebounded strongly after 2020, in part boosted by favourable structural shifts brought on by the pandemic. But they have hit the buffers in recent months. And fortunes are likely to deteriorate further next year, which we expect to be the worst for real estate prices since the end of the GFC. In view of the wider interest we are also sending this UK Commercial Property Update to clients of other Property Services. 15th December 2022
Investment set for weak H1 before picking up in late-2023 We expect the slowdown in investment activity in the second half of 2022 to persist into the first half of 2023. But we think transactions will begin to recover later this year once interest rates have topped out and much of the valuation adjustment has come through. 20th January 2023
RBA Watch RBA not done tightening yet The incoming data do not warrant a pause in the RBA’s tightening cycle and we expect the Bank to lift the cash rate to 3.85% by April. However, with inflation set to come off the boil, we forecast... 31st January 2023 · 8 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia Retail Sales (Dec. 2022) Retail sales volumes declined last quarter on the back of a weaker-than-expected end to 2022. A solid increase in services spending means overall consumption should still have risen at a decent clip... 31st January 2023
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia Consumer Prices (Q4/Dec. 22) Inflation rose further last quarter and remains far too high for the RBA’s liking. Accordingly, we’re sticking to our non-consensus forecast that the Bank will lift the cash rate to 3.85% by April. 25th January 2023
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Strong income growth in New Zealand won’t last The resignation of New Zealand’s Prime Minister opens the door for the opposition to return to power, who have signalled looser policy at a time when government spending is already around record highs... 20th January 2023
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia Labour Market (Dec. 2022) The labour market struggled in December and the unemployment rate has started to rise. With economy activity set to slow sharply, t won’t be long before unemployment increases in earnest. 19th January 2023
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Housing supply shortages starting to ease The shortage of new housing caused by the government’s HomeBuilder grant is showing signs of easing. That means that the housing downturn should start to weigh on homebuilding in earnest and that new... 18th January 2023
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly RBA has more work to do With inflation remaining stubbornly high and consumption resilient, the Reserve Bank of Australia will continue to hike interest rates for a while yet. However, there are some early signs that the... 13th January 2023
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia International Trade (Nov. 22) The trade balance widened to a five-month high in November even though import prices outpaced export prices last quarter, which suggests that net trade provided a sizeable boost to Q4 GDP growth. 12th January 2023
Australia & New Zealand Data Response CPI, Retail Sales & Job Vacancies (Nov. 22) While falling job vacancies point to rising unemployment, the resilience in retail sales coupled with stubbornly high inflation will prompt the RBA to press ahead with another 25bp rate hike next... 11th January 2023
Australia & New Zealand Rapid Response Australia Inflation & Retail Sales (Nov. 22) 11th January 2023
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia Household Spending Indicator (Nov.) The slowdown in household spending in November largely reflects base effects from the ending of lockdowns in 2021. Even so, the data suggest that household spending may have started to fall last... 10th January 2023
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia Monthly Household Spending Indicator (Nov. 22) The slowdown in household spending in November largely reflects base effects from the ending of lockdowns in 2021. Even so, the data suggest that household spending may have started to fall last... 10th January 2023
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia CoreLogic House Prices (Dec.) Australia’s house prices have never fallen so fast in such a short period of time and the risks to our forecast of a 15% peak-to-trough fall are shifting to the downside. 3rd January 2023
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Leading indicators flashing red in New Zealand New Zealand has been the canary in the coalmine for the global economy in recent years so the plunge in the ANZ activity outlook to the second-lowest level on record is cause for concern. Meanwhile... 23rd December 2022
