Filtered by Subscriptions: UK Housing Use setting UK Housing
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 driven by redemptions as people move home, rather than …
18th July 2013
Record low mortgage rates, the equity loan component of the Government’s Help to Buy scheme and a general improvement in the economic environment have helped activity in the housing market to recover. We now expect house prices to increase by 2% both this …
17th July 2013
Housing market activity continues to pick-up, and the balance of surveyors expecting a further increase in sales is at a record high. But house prices are only expected to rise modestly over the next year. … RICS Residential Market Survey …
9th July 2013
In our latest UK Quarterly Review , we discuss reasons to be optimistic about the UK’s medium term outlook. Contrary to the popular belief that we are the eternal “Eeyores” of the economics world, we believe that the UK economy could yet stage a strong …
8th July 2013
Housing market activity is on the up as record low mortgage rates and Government interventions support demand. But supply has so far been slow to respond, with some home movers delaying putting their property on the market. So far this has supported price …
4th July 2013
Halifax reports that house prices have risen for the fifth consecutive month, and on an annual basis prices are now growing at 3.7%, the highest rate in almost three years. But with more homes now being put up for sale, the upwards pressure on prices is …
The Bank of England’s latest Credit Conditions survey shows that the supply of finance continues to improve in both the residential and commercial property sectors. However, there has been no easing in residential credit scoring criteria, while commercial …
3rd July 2013
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 sales for all other price bands. But there is also …
2nd July 2013
The Bank of England reported that gross mortgage lending in May reached the highest level since the start of the financial crisis, and mortgage approvals for house purchase also saw a robust rise. But mortgage repayments saw a concurrent increase, and net …
1st July 2013
The Land Registry reported that prices were essentially flat over May, which helped bring the annual rate of inflation down a touch to 0.5%. Prices in London are still far outperforming the rest of the country, but the North West managed to record the …
28th June 2013
The Nationwide reported that house prices have continued to drift gently upward, with favourable base effects helping the annual rate of growth to a 2½ year high. But price gains are not accelerating – household sector finances are simply not strong …
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 further beyond the reach of young and low income …
27th June 2013
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 lower growth rate than some alternative measures, which …
26th June 2013
The BBA reported a strong rise in mortgage approvals in May, helped by Government interventions. But this improvement comes from a low base, and in aggregate the major banks are still withdrawing credit from the housing market. … BBA Mortgage Lending …
25th June 2013
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 to earnings, the lack of interest-only mortgages will …
20th June 2013
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 house price falls. That does not bode well for …
18th June 2013
Today’s data on mortgage lending and quoted interest rates underline the fact that the Funding for Lending Scheme is struggling to give a boost to lending. In turn, that highlights the risk that, in due course, the upturn in sales reported by the RICS …
11th June 2013
Today's RICS residential property market survey suggests that a degree of liquidity is returning to the owner occupier market. In turn, this has taken a little of the steam out of the rental market. … RICS Residential Market Survey …
A recovery in housebuilding is long overdue and although we suspect that it may not be as strong as it appears at first sight, encouragingly, there are now signs that it may finally be underway. … Has housebuilding finally turned a …
10th June 2013
Sentiment surrounding the housing market appears to be improving, thanks to record low mortgage rates and Government interventions to support the market. But the fundamentals are weak, and with banks still reluctant to lend a period of strong price rises …
6th June 2013
Mortgage approvals have increased marginally in recent months, helped by Government interventions. But that increase has been achieved with virtually no rise in net mortgage lending. Thus in aggregate lenders are limiting new mortgage lending to what can …
4th June 2013
Mortgage approvals were virtually unchanged in April according to the Bank of England, providing further evidence that the Funding for Lending Scheme may just prevent further falls in mortgage lending, rather than provide a significant boost. … Mortgage …
31st May 2013
Land Registry data for April point to house prices in the UK showing marginal gains, but that national average hides a very wide regional divergence. While prices in London are growing at an annual rate of over 6%, they are falling at a similar rate in …
30th May 2013
The rise in house prices recorded by the Nationwide in May could further boost the growing sense of optimism regarding the housing market. But the fundamentals are still weak, and we think much of that optimism is misplaced. … Nationwide House Prices …
With the base rate at 0.5% and wholesale funding rates at around 2%, it seems clear that mortgage interest rates can continue to fall. But the desire to raise capital, and concerns over what will happen when interest rates return to more ‘normal’ levels, …
24th May 2013
Mortgage approvals edged up in April, aided by record low mortgage rates and other Government support for the housing market. But a fourth consecutive fall in net lending suggests that mortgage market conditions are still very weak. … BBA Mortgage …
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 assessed using an estimate closer to the median, such as …
22nd May 2013
While housing completions dipped during the first quarter of 2013, this is a lagging indicator and more significantly private housing starts increased. Various Government interventions should mean this improvement continues, but a return to the levels of …
16th May 2013
The April residential market survey showed that surveyors are now more optimistic about the outlook for house sales and prices. While we share some of the optimism with regards to transactions, we are less enthused about the prospects for prices. … RICS …
14th May 2013
The Funding for Lending Scheme proved unable to prevent a dip in buy-to-let (BTL) lending in the first quarter of 2013. While BTL lending should recover in the coming months, helped by underlying tenant demand, it is not about to boom. … CML Buy-to-Let …
9th May 2013
It is too soon to declare Q1’s marginal rise in arrears and possessions to be the start of a deteriorating trend. But it seems clear that the steady improvement in the data, seen since the end of the 2008/09 recession, has now come to an end. … Mortgage …
The Halifax reports that house prices continued to rise in April, and at a fairly strong pace. But other housing market data are not so positive, and taken together that suggests prices are just holding steady. … Halifax House Prices (Apr. …
8th May 2013
The squeeze on consumers’ real pay will intensify even further over the next few months. Thereafter it should abate, although sub-par rates of spending growth are likely to continue for some time. … The squeeze …
7th May 2013
Various Government interventions, particularly the FLS, have given the housing market a gentle upwards nudge. But early hopes that 2013 would be a year of strong recovery will not be realised, and house prices will do no better than hold their ground for …
The very slight drop in house prices recorded in April points to a housing market holding its ground. While prices in London are likely to see some further gains in coming months, prices for the UK as a whole will struggle to see any increase. … …
1st May 2013
After two consecutive months of declines, mortgage approvals for house purchase staged a partial come back in March. A raft of Government interventions is likely to lead to further marginal increases in mortgage lending over the coming months. … …
30th April 2013
Land Registry data for March showed that house prices are essentially flat, rising by just 0.1% during the month. It is hard to see what will generate price rises, but in the absence of a major shock they are likely to hold their ground. … Land Registry …
29th April 2013
The extension of the Funding for Lending Scheme to include mortgage and housing credit corporations has led to some concerns that the buy-to-let sector will be the main beneficiary. But the link to these specialist lenders is indirect, and banks will not …
25th April 2013
According to the BBA, the number of mortgages approved for house purchase ticked up in March. Alongside other Government support, the extension to the Funding for Lending Scheme will help approvals make further marginal gains over the next year. … BBA …
24th April 2013
According to a recent survey, letting agents think that more landlords are currently buying property than at any time since the height of the buy-to-let (BTL) lending boom in late 2006. But landlords themselves do not appear nearly so positive, nor does …
23rd April 2013
The Funding for Lending Scheme was designed with the purpose of boosting new lending to firms and households. Although the impact on lending has been rather modest, at least in terms of the housing market the main beneficiaries do appear to be first-time …
18th April 2013
The Government took further action to breathe life into the housing market in Budget 2013 by announcing a new Help-to-Buy scheme. Alongside the ongoing Funding for Lending Scheme, and with house prices showing slight gains at the start of the year, falls …
16th April 2013
Evidence on the impact of the new 7% stamp duty rate on activity in the £2m+ homes market is contradictory. Data from the Land Registry shows that transactions have held up. But agents report a sizeable drop. We suspect the difference reflects a shift …
12th April 2013
Housing market transactions have now risen to a three-year high, as the increase in mortgage approvals facilitated by the Funding for Lending Scheme feeds through. But the more recent contraction in approvals suggests that this pace of growth in sales is …
9th April 2013
As the UK struggles to grow, she can only look on with envy at the budding recovery in the US. The UK will continue to lag behind for the foreseeable future. But further ahead, she should be able to close much of the gap that has opened up with the US …
8th April 2013
What had looked like the beginnings of a modest housing market recovery is already losing steam. While Government efforts to support the market should prevent significant house price falls, weak fundamentals including falling real earnings and overvalued …
5th April 2013
The modest rise in house prices recorded by the Halifax in March adds to the run of recent data showing the rise in housing market activity seen at the start of the year appears to be levelling off. … Halifax House Prices (Mar. …
The latest RICS Residential Lettings Survey shows tenant demand accelerated in the three months to January. Alongside the recent reduction in mortgage approvals, this provides further evidence that the Funding for Lending Scheme has to date had a limited …
4th April 2013
Credit availability to the property sector, particularly residential mortgage credit, is still rising, helped by some lenders seeking to increase their market share. But the improvement is not as marked as in recent quarters, and concerns about high house …
3rd April 2013
The largest drop in mortgage approvals for house purchase for a year provides further evidence that poor fundamentals are outweighing Government efforts to support the housing market. … Mortgage Lending (Feb. …
2nd April 2013
