UK Economics Weekly Soft landing intact as mild recession nearing an end It’s debatable whether the small falls in GDP should be considered a recession, although the decline in GDP per capita has been larger. Either way, timely indicators suggest the economy may be coming... 16th February 2024 · 6 mins read
UK Economics Rapid Response UK Retail Sales (Jan. 2024) The 3.4% m/m rebound in retail sales volumes in January will put an end to the retail recession and perhaps even to the wider economy recession in Q1. The strong pick up in sales suggests the worst is... 16th February 2024 · 2 mins read
UK Economics Rapid Response UK GDP (Dec. & Q4 2023) The news that the UK slipped into technical recession in 2023, will be a blow for the Prime Minister on a day when he faces the prospect of losing two by-elections. But this recession is as mild as... 15th February 2024 · 3 mins read
Capital Daily Gilts may keep rallying as UK inflation tumbles We think that UK inflation will continue to fall faster and further than many seem to be expecting, paving the way for the Bank of England to cut interest rates by more than is now discounted in... 14th February 2024 · 4 mins read
Global Economics Focus Have we reached the end of the housing correction? Housing markets in developed economies have perplexed forecasters since 2019. The boom in prices in 2020-22 was not anticipated, and the fall in prices since has been smaller than expected. In this... 14th February 2024 · 17 mins read
UK Economics Rapid Response UK Consumer Prices (Jan. 2024) By staying at 4.0% in January rather than rising as widely expected (BoE 4.1%, CE 4.1%, consensus 4.2%), January’s UK CPI inflation figures are better than expected and do not mimic yesterday’s... 14th February 2024 · 3 mins read
UK Housing Market Update Later rate cuts are the biggest risk to the recovery Current fixed mortgage rates of around 4.6% are based on investors’ forecast that Bank Rate will be cut from 5.25% to 4.50% by the end of the year. We think that rates will be reduced a bit faster... 13th February 2024 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Focus What does the election mean for the UK economy? The next general election won’t be as pivotal for the economy or the markets as the elections in 2017 and 2019. Moreover, whoever wins will be constrained by interest rates having risen relative to... 13th February 2024 · 31 mins read
UK Economics Rapid Response UK Labour Market (Dec. 2023) While wage growth fell further in December, evidence that the labour market may not be loosening much suggests wage growth may not fall as fast as we expect. 13th February 2024 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Weekly Bad news coming, but better times ahead We’d recommend ignoring any reports on the back of next week’s data releases that the UK economy is heading in the wrong direction on inflation and activity. It may only be a few months before... 9th February 2024 · 11 mins read
UK Commercial Property Valuation Monitor UK Commercial Property Valuation Monitor (Q1 24) Another rise in all-property yields in Q4 helped valuations improve slightly. But on our measure all-property still looks substantially overvalued. Looking ahead, a fall in alterative asset yields... 8th February 2024 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update RICS Residential Market Survey (Jan. 24) The strongest set of survey results since the tail end of the 2020-22 house price boom provided further evidence that lower mortgage rates have led to a recovery in demand. We suspect that respondents... 8th February 2024 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Chart Pack UK Economics Chart Pack (Feb. 2024) The faster-than-expected fall in wage growth in November suggests the unexpected rebound in CPI inflation in December will be fleeting. We still think that by April CPI inflation will have fallen... 7th February 2024 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Rapid Response Halifax House Prices (Jan. 2024) The large 1.3% m/m gain in Halifax’s measure of house prices in January was the largest since June 2022, and suggests we are already almost halfway towards our forecast that house prices will rise by... 7th February 2024 · 2 mins read
UK Commercial Property Update Will commercial property distress spread to the UK? Distress in the US commercial property market is once again in the news, but the risk of that spreading to the UK is low. The rise in aggregate loan-to-value ratios to date looks manageable and with... 6th February 2024 · 4 mins read