UK Housing Market Focus Has the housing boom run its course? We are not forecasting a return to boom conditions in 2015. However, we do think that the outlook for both house prices and housing market activity is rather stronger than is typically believed, as a... 4th February 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Focus Are homeowners more sensitive to rising rates than in the past? Although homeowners are currently carrying a lot of mortgage debt, compressing mortgage spreads and an expected concurrent increase in incomes means that they are not notably more sensitive to a rise... 5th December 2014 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Focus The outlook for mortgage interest rate spreads After blowing out during the financial crisis, mortgage interest rate spreads have been trending down for the past 18 months. As financial markets make further progress towards normality, that process... 14th October 2014 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus Are the housing market's warning lights flashing? The recent drop in mortgage approvals does not negate the need for the FPC to test its new macro-prudential powers . For one thing, we expect the drop in lending to be temporary. In addition, the re... 18th June 2014 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Focus Can the Financial Policy Committee cool the housing market? The FPC has a number of policy tools at its disposal should it decide it needs to cool the housing market. Provided it acts with sufficient conviction, there is every chance that the new tools will... 12th May 2014 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Focus What will the pension changes mean for the housing market? The changes to the pension system due to come into effect next year will impact the economy in a variety of ways. But while it may lead to some rise in the demand for homes as retirees search for... 9th May 2014 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Focus Why are so few homes being put up for sale? Recent months have seen a resurgence in first-time buyers, desperate to buy before house prices are pushed even further out of reach. But this has not been matched by a rise in the number of homes put... 10th March 2014 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Focus Is the housing market in a new bubble? Viewed in isolation and given the wider economic recovery, it seems premature to label the housing market upturn as a bubble. Yet, the recovery has come from a point where prices already appeared too... 27th January 2014 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Focus Will Mark Carney need to rein in the housing market? The recovery in house prices has been accompanied by concerns that an unsustainable bubble is developing. At the moment, the indicators on housing market activity favoured by the Bank of England are... 18th December 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Focus Why are mortgage repayments on the rise? Increased housing transactions and a decline in the stock of interest-only mortgages have boosted mortgage principal repayments, and allowed lenders to advance more mortgages without having to... 13th November 2013 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus Will the housing market give consumers a boost? Past housing market upswings have all coincided with above-average rates of consumer spending growth. But it is easy to overstate the strength of the direct linkages between the two. Therefore, unless... 9th September 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Focus Will mortgage guarantees be as successful as equity loans? After the success of the Help to Buy equity loan scheme, there are concerns that the potentially much larger mortgage guarantee aspect of the scheme could trigger a new house price boom when it is... 19th August 2013 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus Will the Government get the housing market going? The Chancellor’s efforts to engineer a sustainable, demand-led recovery in mortgage lending and housebuilding are unlikely to succeed. One possible outcome is that prices simply surge, pushing housing... 27th June 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Focus Why do estimates of the average house price differ? The discrepancy between estimates of the average house price is essentially due to some measures being close to the mean, while others are closer to the median price. Housing valuations are best... 22nd May 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Focus Is a mansion tax a good idea? An annual tax on residential property is in many ways a good idea. But the proposed mansion tax is not the best way to go about it. A better option would be to reform the council tax system to ensure... 19th March 2013 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus Can the UK build its way to a recovery? The construction sector has endured a terrible recession, with double-digit declines in output and employment. In theory, there is scope for a sharp comeback. But given the squeeze on credit and... 7th March 2013 · 1 min read
