Filtered by Subscriptions: UK Housing Use setting UK Housing
London’s housing market has shown few signs of a revival over the past quarter. Transactions have dropped sharply and house price growth is on a downward trajectory. That said, with the economic backdrop holding up for now, the slowdown is unlikely to …
2nd March 2017
Mortgage approvals for house purchase rose for the fifth consecutive month in January. But they are still lower than this time last year, and with house price inflation holding broadly steady at 4.5% in February, there are few signs of building house …
1st March 2017
Mortgage approvals picked up at the start of 2017, supported by record low interest rates and a solid economic backdrop. But continued weakness in buy-to-let lending will temper the recovery across the rest of this year. … BBA Mortgage Lending …
24th February 2017
Healthy levels of consumer confidence and steady economic growth encouraged housebuilders to ramp up production in Q4. And while we don’t think that pace of growth will be sustained, the outlook for starts is looking increasingly positive. … Housebuilding …
23rd February 2017
In theory, an increase in downsizing could improve housing market liquidity. But it would do nothing to fix excessively high house prices, nor would it boost the overall supply of housing. … Downsizing is not the answer to the housing market’s …
22nd February 2017
Growth in household spending is likely to slow over the next few years as inflation rises and dampens growth in real incomes. But loose credit conditions and relatively upbeat sentiment by past standards should ensure that spending does not slow too …
14th February 2017
Weak demand from home-movers and prospective BTL landlords continued to drag on mortgage lending towards the end of last year. As a result, lending volumes recorded their weakest Q4 performance since 2012. … CML Lending Trends (2016 …
House price growth on the official index accelerated in December, driven in part by a surprisingly strong set of figures for the North of England. But with house prices high across the country, this won’t mark the start of a wider trend. … UK House Price …
With house price growth cooling and buyer enquiries slowing, the housing market saw a fairly tepid start to 2017. Looking ahead, with prices already so high and mortgage regulations increasingly biting – especially in the capital and surrounding regions – …
9th February 2017
January’s RICS survey reported that the number of homes coming onto the market fell again. But while the shortage of homes for sale will keep competition amongst buyers high, house prices are already very stretched, meaning that those competitive forces …
The Halifax report that house prices fell in January, partially unwinding a strong run in the final quarter of 2016. The data, therefore, echoed the message from last week’s Nationwide data that house price growth slowed at the start of the year. … …
7th February 2017
Our economic forecasts point to a supportive backdrop for the housing market in 2017. Nevertheless, there are three potential risks facing the market. These are an interest rate shock, a shift in the behaviour of investors and a London-led correction. On …
3rd February 2017
House price growth continued its downward trend at the start of the year. We expect this to continue during 2017, as buyers become increasingly constrained by the very high level of prices. … Nationwide House Prices …
1st February 2017
While there are still considerable uncertainties over the economic outlook, we maintain our view that the damage from the UK’s vote to leave the EU will be smaller than most forecasters have anticipated. Admittedly, higher inflation and Brexit uncertainty …
31st January 2017
The growth of lending for house purchase has cooled somewhat over the last couple of months. The breakdown of the data suggest that is primarily due to lower lending to BTL investors. … Mortgage Lending …
While the housing market ended 2016 in reasonable shape, house price growth has been losing steam. With prices already so high, we expect that trend to continue, with annual house price growth ending both 2017 and 2018 at 2%. Furthermore, while we expect …
30th January 2017
Stagnating employment growth combined with relatively loose supply conditions appear to be keeping Scottish house price growth in check. Throw in low oil prices and concerns about the impact of Brexit on the financial services sector, and house price …
27th January 2017
Today’s figures from the BBA confirm that the recovery in house purchase mortgage approvals maintained its momentum through to the end of 2017. With the economy looking resilient and confidence in the market continuing to improve, we expect this recovery …
26th January 2017
Despite a slight improvement in the data, stock levels remain near historic lows and look unlikely to recover soon. But given that house prices are already very high, neither the shortage of stock nor improving house price expectations will be enough to …
19th January 2017
While the UK house price index recorded a slight rise in annual house price growth in November, recent revisions to the data have brought the index more in line with other measures. This reinforces the view that house price growth has slowed markedly in …
17th January 2017
The supply of residential mortgage credit worsened a touch in the fourth quarter. But there was no sign of a drop in lenders’ risk appetite or market share objectives, suggesting that credit availability will not continue to worsen in 2017. … Bank of …
13th January 2017
The Halifax report that house prices finished 2016 strongly. In spite of that, the big picture remains that house price growth is significantly weaker than it has been over recent years. … Halifax House Prices …
9th January 2017
The housing market is shaping up for a subdued year in 2017. If we are right that the economy will continue to surprise on the upside, lending and sales should make further modest gains this year. But given the already high level of house prices, house …
5th January 2017
The revival in mortgage lending for house purchase seen since August appeared to lose much of its momentum in November. But the feared economic slowdown has yet to materialise and housing surveys suggest that November’s pause should prove only temporary. …
4th January 2017
Mortgage affordability tests introduced in 2014 have effectively eliminated loans with loan-to-income multiples of 5 times or higher. As interest rates begin to normalise, affordability tests will put further downward pressure on the maximum size of …
19th December 2016
Data from the official house price index show that house price growth cooled in October. And while data from the Bank of England suggests that borrower leverage rose in Q3, that is happening within the confines of tighter regulation. … UK House Price …
13th December 2016
With buyer numbers growing, the number of homes coming onto the market falling, and the stock of homes for sale at a record low, sellers have the upper hand. But with house prices so high and some buyers still put off by Brexit uncertainty, house prices …
8th December 2016
This morning’s figures do nothing alter the picture of an acute shortage of willing sellers. But with house prices already so high and price expectations down compared to the early part of the year, that will not translate into a marked acceleration in …
The headline annual rate of house price growth picked up in November. That said the underlying picture still shows a cooling market. With house prices very high and some buyers still cautious following the Brexit vote, we expect the slowdown to be …
7th December 2016
House prices held broadly steady for a second consecutive month in November. With house prices already so high, and house price sentiment still a little short of pre-referendum levels, a pick-up in house price growth looks unlikely. … Nationwide House …
1st December 2016
House price growth in London has held up reasonably well in the aftermath of the EU referendum. But the bigger picture is that the capital is in the midst of an internal adjustment. Outer London has been playing catch-up with the centre – dominating in …
30th November 2016
Mortgage approvals for house purchase rose for the second month in a row, suggesting that mortgage lending is back on an upward trend. But with homes for sale still in short supply, the pace of recovery will be modest. … Mortgage Lending …
29th November 2016
Interest rates are an important driver of housing demand, but they are not the only factor. And restricted access to mortgage credit, rather than its cost, is currently actin as the biggest drag on housing market activity. Thus, even though demand …
28th November 2016
Housing starts posted a healthy increase in Q3, despite the Brexit vote tempering house price expectations and confidence early in the quarter. Looking ahead, we expect housebuilding to grow further, albeit gradually, with the measures announced in …
24th November 2016
Mortgage approvals for house purchase recorded a second consecutive monthly increase in October to regain their pre-referendum level. That said, they are still short of the levels seen last year in advance of the announcement of the introduction of the …
The introduction of the buy-to-let stress test should have little near-term impact. But in the longer term, the effect of the test on mortgage volumes will be amplified by the removal of mortgage interest tax relief. As a result, unless gross yields start …
18th November 2016
Subdued demand from prospective buy-to-let (BTL) landlords and home movers was behind the continued weakness in mortgage activity in Q3, while buoyant activity among first time buyers (FTBs) partially offset the slowdown. … CML Lending Trends (2016 …
15th November 2016
Annual house price growth held steady in September. But revisions to the data paint a more subdued post-referendum picture than before, while the already high level of house prices will help to prevent price growth from taking off again. … UK House Price …
Housing demand grew for a second consecutive month in October, as buyers gradually returned to the market. But high house prices and a weaker economy will prevent this from being translated into house price gains next year. … RICS Residential Market …
10th November 2016
London saw a sharp drop in housing starts during Q3, as builders paused to assess the Brexit vote’s effect on an already slowing market. But with the effect of the referendum looking comparatively mild, we expect the bulk of Q3’s fall to be reversed …
8th November 2016
Data from Halifax point to house prices stagnating in the third quarter. That echoes the broad picture outlined by other indices that, while house price growth slowed in the wake of the referendum result, there is no evidence of any substantial fall in …
7th November 2016
The latest data show a housing market that is on the way to recovering from a brief post-referendum slowdown. Yet the tightness in active supply conditions looks set to persist, house prices are still high and sentiment has not quite returned to its …
3rd November 2016
Consumer spending growth is unlikely to maintain its recent strength in the year ahead. But supportive credit conditions should prevent spending from slowing too sharply, with past monetary loosening continuing to feed through to lower borrowing costs. … …
2nd November 2016
House prices held flat in October, while the annual rate of growth decelerated to 4.6%. Other data suggest that buyers are now starting to return to the market following the Brexit shock. But with house prices already very high, we expect annual price …
• Mortgage approvals for house purchase rose for the first time in four months in September, echoing last week’s message from the BBA data that the fall in mortgage lending has bottomed out. … Mortgage Lending …
31st October 2016
Mortgage approvals rose for house purchase rose the first time in four months, suggesting that the recent fall in mortgage lending has bottomed out. That said, with the economic backdrop set to be subdued, lending is set to recover at only a modest pace. …
26th October 2016
Our calculations suggest that there is plenty of room for competitive pressures to narrow the spread between high LTV and mainstream mortgages. That said, with banks looking cautious ahead of Brexit, we don’t expect such loans to become dramatically …
24th October 2016
House price growth on the official index strengthened a touch August, all but confirming that the Brexit vote caused little damage. But with prices already high and economic growth set to be sluggish, a slowdown in 2017 is still on the cards. … UK House …
18th October 2016
The housing market is starting to recover from the initial shock of the Brexit vote. But with prices already high, we don’t expect a return to business as usual. Rather, we think house price growth will slow further into 2017 and remain subdued …
17th October 2016
Today’s Credit Conditions Survey shows that lenders became a little more cautious in the aftermath of the referendum. And while banks look set to relax conditions for mortgage lending in Q4, the outlook for commercial property looks more restrained. … …
14th October 2016
