US Housing Market Update Pending home sales taking longer to close A surge in demand for refinancing has stretched lenders’ capacity, lengthening the time it takes to close a mortgage. That has disrupted the usual relationship between pending and existing home sales... 26th September 2019 · 3 mins read
Wealth effects more important than HELOCs alone The Bank of Canada’s latest research implies that home equity extraction has had only modest effects on consumer spending and GDP. Once we consider the total wealth effects, however, the significance... 26th September 2019 · 3 mins read
US Housing Market Data Response New Home Sales (Aug.) The volatility in new home sales continued into August, with a rise of 7.7% m/m not quite reversing the fall recorded in July. Flat demand for home purchase mortgages over the past couple of weeks... 25th September 2019 · 2 mins read
UK Housing Market Data Response UK Finance Mortgage Lending (Aug.) August’s fall in house purchase mortgage approvals more than reversed July’s rise. And while price competition among mortgage lenders remains fierce, this has largely not translated into higher... 25th September 2019 · 2 mins read
US Housing Market Data Response Case-Shiller / FHFA House Prices (Jul.) The gradual slowdown in house price growth seen over the past year came to a halt in July. Case-Shiller reported annual growth was unchanged at 3.2%, and the FHFA recorded a slight acceleration to 5.0... 24th September 2019 · 2 mins read
UK Housing Market Chart Pack London Housing Chart Book: More price falls to come The brief rise in London buyer activity proved to be short lived, suggesting that the capital’s housing market malaise has further to run. Indeed, even if a no-deal Brexit is avoided, we expect London... 24th September 2019 · 7 mins read
UK Housing Market Update Mortgage interest rates close to their floor Increased competition among lenders has caused mortgage interest rates to fall in recent months. But funding costs are set to remain pretty stable. That, combined with already tight interest margins... 20th September 2019 · 3 mins read
US Housing Market Data Response Existing Home Sales (Aug.) Existing home sales increased for the second consecutive month in August, to reach an 18-month high. But a number of factors argue against a sustained rise in activity. Demand for home purchase... 19th September 2019 · 2 mins read
Teranet House Prices (Aug.) House price inflation picked up for the first time in nine months in August and the improvement in the sales-to-new listing ratio this year suggests that it will rise further. 19th September 2019 · 2 mins read
India Chart Pack Reigniting reforms The latest activity data for India have been disappointing but, despite the economy’s recent soft patch, developments over the past month should boost optimism over long-run prospects. In late August... 19th September 2019 · 9 mins read
UK Housing Market Update Would a stamp duty cut boost transactions? Stamp duty changes previously hinted at by the Prime Minister could affect over half of all home buyers, with more expensive homes seeing substantial savings. While the effect on house prices would be... 19th September 2019 · 3 mins read
US Housing Market Data Response Housing Starts (Aug.) Even ignoring the surge in volatile multifamily starts, August was a good month for homebuilding. Single-family starts and permits both saw decent gains, as low mortgage interest rates, a solid labour... 18th September 2019 · 2 mins read
China Data Response Activity & Spending (Aug.) After worsening across the board in July, growth in industrial production, capital spending and retail sales fell even further last month. And with a strong rebound unlikely any time soon, we... 16th September 2019 · 2 mins read
US Housing Market Update Why have mortgage spreads widened? The sharp rise in the spread between the 10-year Treasury yield and 30-year mortgage rate primarily reflects the speed at which yields dropped back. But tighter credit conditions also look to be... 13th September 2019 · 3 mins read
Stronger housing starts won’t prevent slowdown The continued strength of housing starts in August could be a sign that we are overestimating the size of the decline to come. This is unlikely to prevent a broader slowdown in GDP growth, however. 12th September 2019 · 2 mins read
UK Housing Market Data Response RICS Residential Market Survey (Aug.) Having seen a small improvement across June and July, housing demand lost all upward momentum in August. Looking ahead, given the high level of house prices and ongoing political uncertainty, a... 12th September 2019 · 2 mins read
