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House prices heading lower again The renewed increases in mortgage rates and new listings mean we now expect house prices to fall by 5% over the next six months. The big risk, however, is that we are underestimating the degree to which forced sales are …
17th October 2023
The Bank of Canada’s quarterly surveys show that businesses’ inflation expectations continue to decline, albeit slowly, and point to a growing risk that the economy will fall into recession. Accordingly, we continue to doubt that the Bank will raise …
16th October 2023
The job-to-applicant ratio has usually signalled earlier than the Tankan that the labour market has taken a turn for the worse. But despite the recent fall in the number of jobs relative to applicants, we still think that the labour market will soon start …
There are growing indications that household finances are coming under pressure as mortgagors struggle with rising debt-servicing costs. Although households benefit from substantial liquidity buffers, we suspect they won’t be rushing to run those down to …
Surging interest rates caused mortgage demand to slump in Q3 at the same time as rising defaults led lenders to tighten mortgage credit conditions. Similarly, it became more difficult to secure commercial real estate loans. We expect availability of …
12th October 2023
Higher interest rates weighed sharply on households’ demand for mortgages in Q3 and banks expect demand for mortgages to fall further in Q4. This is a clear sign that higher interest rates are working. And our forecast that mortgage rates will stay above …
We think euro-zone equities’ recent run of underperformance relative to those in the US will extend over the next couple of years, as bond yields fall back and enthusiasm around “AI” continues to grow. With the bond market sell-off seemingly having abated …
Surveyors reported the most widespread price falls since February 2009 in September as mortgage rates of over 5% took their toll. Looking ahead, a further slide in house prices appears inevitable. The drop in the past prices balance to a fresh 14-year low …
Most of the recent surge in net migration has been driven by the increased arrival of foreign students, who generally spend less, work fewer hours and demand less housing than the average Australian. On balance though, the surge in net migration probably …
The recent strength of core inflation compared to that in the US is mainly due to a rebound in durable goods prices. That has little to do with demand, which has weakened to a greater extent in Canada, suggesting that either the earlier depreciation of …
11th October 2023
Labour has made housing a major theme of its conference, and the party’s attitude towards New Towns and social housing means that the next election could prove a turning point in the structure of the UK housing market. Over the past 30 years successive …
10th October 2023
Any fall in bond prices resulting from higher bond yields won’t affect the BoJ’s balance sheet unless the Bank decides to sell its holdings. By contrast, rising interest payments on commercial banks’ reserve holdings could create losses, though those …
The recent shift towards looser fiscal policy in Italy and increase in sovereign bond yields once again have raised concerns that investors may lose confidence in Italy’s ability to sustain its debt burden. We don’t think this will morph into an acute …
9th October 2023
The ‘higher for longer’ narrative on interest rates that is baked into market pricing is at odds with evidence of widespread falls in inflation. Higher oil prices mean that fuel inflation will be a bit higher than seemed likely a few months ago. But the …
5th October 2023
We expect any rise in bond yields to be gradual and don’t believe it will create major economic or market dislocation. But there are risks that the Bank of Japan loses control over longer-term yields . A rapid surge in bond yields would threaten the …
IWG’s record revenues in the first half of this year may suggest that flexible offices are the answer for many firms as hybrid working cements itself as the ‘new normal’. However, we don’t think current flexible offices currently offer the right product …
4th October 2023
While some measures of optimism have been improving, the majority of the survey evidence suggests the economy is weakening and the chances of the mild recession we have been forecasting have increased. The 0.5% m/m fall in real GDP in July and the decline …
With its assessment of the balance of risks broadly unchanged, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand left rates on hold at its meeting today. Although the Bank will likely retain its tightening bias, we continue to believe that the official cash rate is at its …
Office-based jobs are on course to underperform total jobs this year for the first time since 2009 and there is a growing risk this could be repeated in 2024, though that is not yet our central forecast. At the metro level, we expect differentials to …
3rd October 2023
Although the job openings rate rebounded sharply in August, we suspect that was more noise than a signal that the labour market is enjoying a resurgence. The rest of the JOLTS report presented a more balanced picture, with the latest data still pointing …
While new RBA Governor Michelle Bullock didn’t spring any surprises at her first interest rate decision today, we think that the Bank will hike interest rates to a peak of 4.35% at its next meeting in November . However, we expect the RBA to pivot towards …
By putting upward pressure on JGB yields and the yen, tighter monetary policy could lead to falls in the value of bonds and overseas assets held by Japanese investors. Insurance companies and pension funds have the most to lose. However, we do not think …
September’s manufacturing PMIs suggest that global industrial activity stagnated at the end of Q3, and forward-looking indicators point to further weakness ahead. The recent rise in oil prices seemed to push up the prices of manufactured goods. But …
2nd October 2023
The stakes could not be higher for this year’s presidential election – with the head-to-head rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump offering starkly contrasting polices on trade, the environment and international relations. Historically, US …
Buying a first home has become increasingly difficult over the past 30 years. A high income is still essential, but other circumstances such as whether the individual is buying as part of a joint-income couple or has significant family wealth have become …
The Italian government’s decision to raise its deficit targets suggests it is trying to get away with as little fiscal tightening as possible. With EU fiscal rules set to come back into force next year, that raises the risk of tensions escalating between …
29th September 2023
Global goods trade fell at its fastest pace since the pandemic in July and the timelier trade and survey data point to further declines in August and September. What’s more, given that we still expect several advanced economies to fall into mild …
28th September 2023
The direct hit to the economy from even an extended government shutdown beginning next week would be modest. But it could also result in delays to key data releases, including the September employment and CPI reports due over the next couple of weeks. At …
As we anticipated , housing starts in England spiked to their highest level on record in Q2 as builders began work early to avoid having to conform with the Future Homes Standard. More timely monthly data show that starts slumped in July and August in …
Rising bankruptcy filings by large corporations are another reason to doubt that the economy will continue to grow at close to its potential rate, as the Federal Reserve now seems to believe. Admittedly, the bankruptcy data suggest that consumers and …
26th September 2023
The sharp slowdown in broad money growth since late last year suggests that higher interest rates are working by reducing households’ and firms’ demand for borrowing, which should lead to softer activity and lower inflation. This supports our view that a …
The abandonment of Yield Curve Control would probably prompt the Bank of Japan to reduce its bloated holdings of government bonds, which could push up long-term bond yields. However, there are good reasons to think that the fiscal consequences wouldn’t be …
25th September 2023
The September Flash PMIs add to evidence that economic activity in the US and Europe is weakening. This supports our view that the Fed, ECB, and Bank of England have finished hiking interest rates. Our estimate of the DM average composite PMI edged down …
22nd September 2023
Although the 10-year Treasury yield rose further to a post-Global-Financial-Crisis high of ~4.5% in the wake of this week’s FOMC meeting, we continue to forecast that it will drop back to 3.75% by the end of this year and to 3.25% by the end of next year. …
We held a Drop-In yesterday to discuss the latest policy meetings of the Fed, ECB, and Bank of England and what they might mean for the future path of policy and financial markets. (See the recording here .) This Update answers several of the questions …
We now expect the Bank of Japan to hike its policy rate – for the first time in sixteen years – next January. While we think global markets are generally braced for such an event, there’s a clear risk nonetheless that it puts pressure on long-term bonds …
The Bank of Japan still sounded dovish when it kept policy settings unchanged today. But with inflation proving stickier than expected, we expect the Bank to lift its policy rate in January and have pencilled in the full-fledged dismantling of Yield Curve …
We think that both the Fed and the BoE are finished hiking interest rates and will cut by more than investors are discounting over the next couple of years. We also expect the US and UK economies to tip into mild recessions before long. These similarities …
21st September 2023
Despite ending the interest rate hiking cycle today, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) succeeded in convincing financial markets that interest rates will remain high for some time. As market interest rate expectations determine fixed mortgage rates, the …
Note: We’ll be discussing September’s Fed, ECB and Bank of England policy decisions in a Drop-In at 3pm BST today. Register here to join. The surprise decision by the Bank of England to leave interest rates unchanged at 5.25% today probably means that …
The Fed doubled down on its mantra that interest rates will remain higher for longer, with its updated projections suggesting that the economy will enjoy the softest of soft landings and core inflation will still take some considerable time to return to …
20th September 2023
The prevalence of fixed-rate debt suggests the Fed’s aggressive rate hikes will continue to deal less damage to the economy than they might have done in the past. But higher rates are still likely to take a further toll on consumption and business …
The United Auto Workers (UAW) strike action aimed at the Big Three automakers should have only a trivial effect on the broader economy. More generally, despite the tightness of labour market conditions and the recent surge in prices, work stoppages …
19th September 2023
On Tuesday 19th September, our Energy and Global Economics teams discussed the oil market outlook and its implications for inflation and monetary policy in an online briefing for clients. Watch the recording here . We are not convinced that the increase …
The wage-setting behaviour of Japanese firms has changed over the last couple of years and to reflect this we’re revising our long-run inflation forecast from 0.5% to 1.0%. However, that would still mean that inflation will settle well below the BoJ’s 2% …
House price inflation turned positive in August, but the smaller monthly price gain combined with signs of easing demand and increasing supply show that the housing market continues to cool. The 0.4% y/y increase in the MLS House Price Index in August was …
18th September 2023
The recent outperformance of single-family REITs versus apartment REITs appears to be down to differences in the capital value outlook for the sectors, rather than any major difference in rental growth prospects. With our forecasts for single-family and …
15th September 2023
CPI food inflation has remained elevated in recent months but, with wholesale price growth easing rapidly, we are confident it will soon fall sharply. That will help to offset the impact of higher oil prices on energy inflation and means there is still …
14th September 2023
Depressed activity remains consistent with falling house prices The further deterioration of the RICS survey figures in August suggest the peak in mortgage rates seen in July are continuing to dampen demand. And as we don’t think rates will fall …
Although wage growth is clearly falling in the US, the same cannot be said for the UK and euro-zone despite some evidence of labour markets cooling there too. A further fall in inflation expectations and an easing in worker mismatches is probably needed …
13th September 2023
