Filtered by Subscriptions: UK Housing Use setting UK Housing
The slight decline in mortgage approvals for house purchase in February is almost certainly a blip, and doesn’t herald the end of the revival in mortgage lending. But it does suggest mortgage lending is not set to accelerate out of control, and banks are …
25th March 2014
House price growth may be entering double-digit territory on the Nationwide measure, but that is certainly not the case according to the Land Registry. The difference may reflect the inclusion of cash buyers within the Land Registry index, who currently …
21st March 2014
Help to Buy equity loans have proved very popular, but their direct impact on the housing market recovery has been overstated. The extension to the scheme will give housebuilders the confidence to boost starts, but their shareholders will also be cheering …
19th March 2014
The RICS housing market survey provides some hope that housing demand is not running out of control. But there is still an acute lack of homes available for sale, and that will put further upwards pressure on house prices. … RICS Residential Market …
13th March 2014
First-time buyers continue to drive the recovery in mortgage lending, and have done so without any rise in the share of mortgages requiring a small deposit. So far, it seems as though the Help to Buy guarantee scheme has replaced, rather than …
11th March 2014
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 up for sale. We suspect that past falls in house …
10th March 2014
Housing market activity is rising on the back of the broader economic recovery, record low interest rates and Government interventions. While there is always the risk that the house price boom evident in some parts of central London could spread to the …
7th March 2014
The Halifax reported that house prices increased in February by more than they did over the whole of 2012. But on more stable measures price gains are not accelerating towards rates consistent with a country-wide housing boom. … Halifax House Prices …
6th March 2014
The restrictions placed on the extension to the FLS to slow the expansion of mortgage lending will have a very limited direct impact. Lenders who did not qualify for the extension simply made heavy use of the initial scheme before it closed at the end of …
5th March 2014
Mortgage lending got off to a strong start in 2014, with another robust rise in the number of mortgages approved for house purchase. Secured lending will see further gains over the year, helped by the Funding for Lending scheme. But the introduction of …
3rd March 2014
The Nationwide and Land Registry report that house prices are continuing to grow steadily. Prices are now only 3% off their pre-crisis high according to the Nationwide, and will pass that benchmark by June at current growth rates. … Nationwide (Feb.) & …
28th February 2014
The weight of evidence suggests that most mortgage lenders are already implementing the Mortgage Market Review regulations, so we doubt mortgage lending will see a sharp drop come 26th April. But the interest rate stress test should at least prevent …
25th February 2014
The recovery in the mortgage market continued into 2014, with the largest month-on-month rise in approvals for house purchase since September. Mortgage approvals will see further gains over this year, but a slight rise in mortgage rates and new …
Housing starts are growing rapidly on the back of an improving economy and the Help to Buy scheme. But with builders already facing material and labour shortages, and the demand for new homes partly dependent on a temporary Government subsidy, we doubt …
20th February 2014
After falling for six years in a row, real pay should finally rise this year, providing a more sustainable foundation for further robust growth in real consumer spending. Rising employment and a continued recovery in the housing market should also boost …
18th February 2014
If the share of homes bought using the joint income of a two-earner household has trended up over time, it is possible that a measure of the house price-to earnings ratio that uses average individual earnings data will make housing look more expensive …
17th February 2014
The January RICS survey provides some tentative evidence that housing market activity is no longer accelerating. But with housing market conditions still very tight, house prices will see further gains in the coming months. … RICS Residential Market …
13th February 2014
Data from the CML confirm that first-time buyers have been the driving force behind the recovery in mortgage lending. But buy-to-let lending is also making a steady comeback, with the number of loans advanced in the final quarter of 2013 the highest since …
12th February 2014
Housing market activity and prices are continuing to rise, although there is some tentative evidence that the pace of those gains is now moderating. And with more homes expected to be put on the market this year, the national housing market outlook is …
6th February 2014
The Halifax reported a large rise in house prices of 1.1% in January, more than reversing a slight fall in December. But there is no sign that house price gains are accelerating, which would typically signify the onset of a house price boom. … Halifax …
Mortgage approvals rose in December according to the Bank of England, although the increase was relatively small. Mortgage lending will see further gains as the economy recovers, but there are few signs that a credit boom is in development. … Mortgage …
30th January 2014
The Land Registry reported that house prices ended the year on a strong note, with December seeing the strongest month-on-month gain since July. Nearly all regions saw a rise in prices over 2013, but the gap between the pace of gains in London and the …
29th January 2014
There is no sign that the recovery in the housing market is moderating, with prices rising by 0.7% in January according to the Nationwide. Prices have now risen for 12 consecutive months, a feat last achieved in the year to June 2007. … Nationwide House …
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 high. So, when the support from ultra low interest …
27th January 2014
The BBA reported another rise in the number of mortgages approved in December, which are now up 42% on a year earlier. While there is no sign yet that this risks turning into a lending boom, it is not surprising that Mark Carney is rumoured to be …
24th January 2014
The growth in mortgage lending seen over the past year will continue into 2014, but we doubt it will develop into a credit boom. Not only are banks unlikely to return to the type of lending practices that triggered the previous boom, but there are now …
21st January 2014
RICS reported another robust set of housing market indicators in December, which may increase fears that a new house price boom is in the making. But there aresome early signs that housing market activity has now stopped gathering speed. … RICS …
16th January 2014
The housing market finished 2013 strongly with prices and transactions both on upward trends. That momentum will continue into this year and, helped by an improving labour market, our central forecast is that transactions will reach 1.26m and house prices …
13th January 2014
There are now signs that the housing market recovery is broadening out to the rest of the country, leading to increased fears that a new house price boom is on the way. That is certainly a risk, but with lenders not about to embark on a rapid expansion of …
9th January 2014
The UK economy has leapt towards the top of the international growth table and there are good reasons to think it can stay there. We now expect the economy to grow by 3% this year and next. … The leader of the …
8th January 2014
The tone of the latest Credit Conditions survey was positive, with the supply of and demand for credit rising in both the residential and commercial property sectors in Q4 last year. But lenders seem to be more circumspect about how activity may pan out …
Halifax report that after rising for every month of the year since February, house prices unexpectedly dipped during December. A further rise in prices in 2014 is likely, but an increase in the number of homes coming onto the market should help prevent …
The economic recovery is still not being accompanied by any marked pick-up in household borrowing. And with borrowing costs likely to increase in coming months, the chances of a credit boom in 2014 soon seem remote. … Nationwide House Prices (Dec …
3rd January 2014
The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) reported that the number of mortgage approvals for house purchase rose to a four-year high in November. However, approvals are still at a low level and we think lenders will remain cautious, meaning that mortgage …
24th December 2013
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 not pointing to a housing market that is running out of …
18th December 2013
Current concerns about the pace of house price gains could prove short-lived if a sharp rise in sales instructions helps to rebalance the market in the spring. But with rising house price expectations giving sellers reason to delay and Help to Buy …
11th December 2013
Six months after the launch of Help to Buy, detailed mortgage lending statistics show little evidence of a rise in the share of new mortgages being advanced on the basis of a 5% deposit. But there has been a modest rise in the number of borrowers taking …
10th December 2013
While buyer interest continues to build, sellers are reluctant to return to the market. A growing disparity between the number of active buyers and sellers does not seem a healthy basis for the upturn in house prices or house price expectations. … RICS …
Yesterday’s announcement that foreign owners of property will be liable for CGT from April 2015 is unlikely to encourage those owners to sell up, as it will only apply to future gains. But the move to tighten CGT rules aimed at investors and second home …
6th December 2013
There is no sign that the housing market is losing momentum as the year draws to a close, with prices up a substantial 1.1% during November. That will add to the pressure on the Bank of England to do more to calm the market. … Halifax House Prices (Nov …
The housing market is still some way off boom territory, with mortgage approvals 40% below pre- crisis levels and annual house price inflation under 5% in most regions. But with market conditions becoming ever tighter the risk of a new housing market …
5th December 2013
The Bank of England has started the slow process of withdrawing support to the mortgage market. In our view, the acceleration of the review into the introduction of an industry-wide leverage ratio is the most significant change, and could prove …
2nd December 2013
The Bank of England reported that mortgage approvals for house purchase continued to grow in October, although at a slower pace than in the recent past. Rigorous affordability tests appear to be preventing a more rapid surge in lending. … Mortgage …
29th November 2013
There is no sign that the gains to house prices are losing any momentum, with a rise of 0.6% in November according to the Nationwide. But we still doubt this will develop into a widespread house price boom, particularly now that the Bank of England has …
Alongside the release of its Financial Stability Report, the Bank of England has unveiled new measures to blunt the incentives for banks to make new mortgage loans. While these initiatives may do little directly to cool the housing market, the Financial …
28th November 2013
The Land Registry posted a surpise fall in house prices during October of 0.2%, and revised down September’s gain. But overall the evidence is that house price rises are becoming more widespread, explaining why the Bank of England took action this morning …
The BBA reported a slight fall in mortgage approvals for house purchase in October, ending a seven month run of expansion. While we expect that approvals will continue to grow over the coming months, this is a useful reminder that banks are still being …
25th November 2013
A sizeable boost in new-build demand from the Help to Buy equity loan scheme has helped stimulate a recovery in housebuilding. But capacity constraints will prevent a rapid return to pre-crisis building levels. … Housebuilding (Q3 …
21st November 2013
With the economy and labour market recovering at the same time as mortgage rates have seen further falls, it is not surprising that arrears and possessions have declined. But household finances are still vulnerable to potential shocks. … Mortgage …
14th November 2013
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 increase net lending. Those factors are likely to continue, …
13th November 2013
