UK Housing Market Update Are rental affordability constraints starting to bite The growth rate of private residential rents has slowed in recent months, driven primarily by London. We think this is a sign that affordability constraints are starting to bite in the capital. But... 26th August 2016 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Lower rates to prop up Buy-to-Let demand Lower interest rates will do little to help frustrated first-time buyers get onto the housing ladder. But they will ensure that the income returns offered by BTL investments continue to be relatively... 12th August 2016 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Will the MPC inject fresh life into the housing market? Today’s measures from the MPC met our expectations. And while mortgage interest rates are now likely to fall a little further, uncertainty amongst buyers means that this is unlikely to give lending... 4th August 2016 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Few signs of collapse in prices but risks loom The data so far on housing market activity and prices are broadly to our expectations, pointing to a fall in transactions but no collapse in prices. Yet with data from this morning reporting a sharp... 22nd July 2016 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Post-Brexit housing market: when will we know? It will be several weeks before we start to get hard data on how the housing market has reacted to the EU referendum outcome. Even then, the initial data may lend themselves to many different... 13th July 2016 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Out vote will hit transactions harder than house prices The electorate’s vote to take the UK out the European Union presents another potential headwind to a housing market already labouring under worryingly high prices. But if we are right that the economy... 24th June 2016 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Are investors right to be targeting Manchester? Media reports suggest that Chinese investors are increasingly targeting Manchester residential property. With capital appreciation set to slow markedly over the coming years, that makes sense, as... 21st June 2016 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update A new official UK house price index A combination of better input data, more detailed outputs and methodological tweaks should, in principle, make the new official UK house price index the definitive measure. But greater coverage and... 8th June 2016 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update How much have shortages held back housebuilding? Materials and labour constraints may have reduced housing starts in England by as much as 5.5% per year since 2013 – equivalent to a cumulative total of around 24,000 homes. But with production... 27th May 2016 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update A bumpy ride ahead New buyer enquiries in London fell sharply in both March and April, as did house price expectations. With house prices already very high, the data point to a sharp slowdown in price growth and... 20th May 2016 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Has London’s housing market reached a precipice? April’s RICS data showed that London’s new buyer enquiries balance fell to its second lowest level on record. History, however, suggests that on its own, the slump in buyer demand is more likely to... 16th May 2016 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update What do the low level of lettings instructions tell us? The relatively subdued level of new lettings instructions is a reminder that, despite its high profile in recent quarters, BTL lending is only one measure of the health of the private rented sector... 11th May 2016 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Would Brexit raise mortgage rates? It is possible that an out vote in the EU referendum could push up mortgage interest rates. But if it did, we suspect any rise would be modest and that the drivers of that rise would not be those... 21st April 2016 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update The risk to the UK housing market isn’t Brexit An out vote in June’s EU referendum could lead to some short-term softening in activity levels and price pressures in the housing market. It could also present another medium-term headwind to raising... 21st March 2016 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update What is the outlook for bank funding costs? Since the turn of the year, market jitters have made longer-term wholesale bank funding more expensive. But cheap short-term funds may prevent a sharp rise in deposit rates, and therefore keep funding... 15th March 2016 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Is the shortage of homes for sale being overstated? There are some grounds to think that survey measures of the number of homes for sale may be being distorted by an increase in the total number of estate agent branches. That said, even after adjusting... 9th February 2016 · 1 min read
