UK Housing Market Update Help to Buy mortgage guarantees – is it time to reassess? We have been more sceptical than most that the Help to Buy mortgage guarantee will spark a new house price boom. Although the complexity of the scheme makes it difficult to draw firm conclusions... 9th October 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update When will the Financial Policy Committee act to restrain house prices? Despite extensive media coverage, outside of central London there is little evidence of a house price boom, and there has been no increase in the stock of mortgage debt. Therefore, there seems little... 25th September 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Are mortgage rates set to rise? The sharp rise in swap rates in recent months has raised concerns that fixed mortgage rates will now follow. But while lenders will still be keen to maintain a healthy margin on any new lending, some... 20th September 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Have house prices returned to pre-crisis highs? The ONS house price index, which shows that prices in England have returned to pre-crisis highs, has made plenty of headlines today. But compared to other indices, the ONS measure places greater... 18th September 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Should there be a cap on house price inflation? A boom in house prices would certainly not be sustainable, and the authorities should take action to prevent this. But the Bank of England already has new tools to prevent any unwarranted rise in... 13th September 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Growth in buy-to-let lending lagging overall market There was a further slight uptick in mortgage approvals in September, but it would be premature to view this as the start of a sustained recovery in the housing market. The improvement was modest, and... 12th September 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Dominance of first-time buyers unlikely to last Business cycles in advanced economies have been exceptionally closely aligned in recent years because of the global financial crisis, but they are likely to become less so in future. Although a global... 11th September 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Recent trends in the new-build premium The new-build premium has more or less held its ground over the past year, with new homes around 15% more expensive than equivalent second-hand properties. But with new-build prices now receiving an... 29th August 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Will forward guidance provide a further boost to the housing market? By reducing households’ concerns that mortgage rates will increase in the near future, forward guidance has the potential to provide a further boost to housing demand. But while the policy can’t harm... 21st August 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Divergence in London house prices grows ever wider House prices in London as a whole have outperformed the rest of the country since the financial crisis, but this is not the case for all parts of the capital. Those boroughs with the highest prices... 31st July 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Housebuilding starts to recover, but so do new-build prices The recent rise in demand for new-build homes, partly driven by Help to Buy, has helped private home starts reach their highest level since the start of the financial crisis. While this is good news... 26th July 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Is gross or net mortgage lending more relevant for house prices? In the short term, whether gross or net mortgage lending matters more for house prices depends on the type of mortgage repayments being made. In that regard, with the recent rise in repayments being... 18th July 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Stamp duty weighs on £2m+ housing transactions The introduction in March 2012 of a new 7% stamp duty rate for homes sold for more than £2m has contributed to reduction in high-value transactions of around 12% in 2012, compared to an increase in... 2nd July 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update ONS release new statistics on private sector rental growth The ONS have produced a new experimental index of private housing rental prices, which reports that rents in the private sector in May were around 1.3% higher compared to a year ago. That is a much... 26th June 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Demise of interest-only mortgages will also hold back housing demand In recent times, the sharp drop in interest-only lending has been a far less important factor holding back housing demand than lenders’ deposit requirements. But with prices still very high relative... 20th June 2013 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Financial institutions wary about renewed housing market optimism A rise in households’ optimism regarding the housing market has pushed asking prices to a record high. At the same time, financial institutions appear to have become more concerned about the risk of... 18th June 2013 · 1 min read
