US Housing Market Data Response Existing Home Sales (Mar.) Existing home sales edged lower in March rounding off the weakest start to the year in over a decade. While the lending data point to further declines in April, we expect mortgage rates will fall back... 20th April 2023 · 2 mins read
UK Housing Market Update Mortgage rates unlikely to fall further As mortgage lenders’ net interest margins are already very narrow, the increase in market interest rates over the past fortnight means that the decline in mortgage rates from their spike after the... 20th April 2023 · 3 mins read
Canada Economics Update Canada Housing Watch (Apr.) House prices edged up in March and the jump in the sales-to-new listing ratio implies they will rise further this quarter. With affordability still very stretched, we assume that there will be a... 19th April 2023 · 4 mins read
US Housing Market Data Response Housing Starts (Mar.) Single-family starts rose for the second consecutive month in March which adds weight to the view that starts have bottomed out. Building permits and homebuilder confidence also edged higher. But... 18th April 2023 · 2 mins read
UK Housing Market Update Shift towards cheaper homes challenges statisticians The divergence between the Nationwide and Halifax House Price Indices of late has cast some doubt on the direction of house prices. A struggle to adjust the statistics for a shift towards cheaper... 17th April 2023 · 3 mins read
Canada Economics Weekly Macklem pushes back against rate cut expectations Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem used his press conference this week to push back against expectations for interest rate cuts later this year. That partly reflects the Bank’s less downbeat... 14th April 2023 · 6 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Migration boom won’t be inflationary Concerns that the ongoing surge in net overseas migration to Australia will fuel demand-pull inflation are overblown, especially with the population still below its pre-virus trend. To the contrary, a... 14th April 2023 · 5 mins read
UK Housing Market Data Response Credit Conditions Survey (Q1 2023) The headline mortgage availability balance of the credit conditions survey turned positive for the first time in over a year in Q1. The collapse of SVB while the survey was in the field probably helps... 13th April 2023 · 3 mins read
UK Housing Market Data Response RICS Residential Market Survey (Mar.) The marginal improvement in the headline prices paid and new buyer enquiries balance of the RICS Residential Survey did not alter the overarching message that prices are falling and sales slumping. 12th April 2023 · 3 mins read
US Commercial Property Apartment Metros Outlook Capital values to fall 25% in San Fran, Seattle and D.C. We expect a surge in completions and a slowdown in employment growth to push vacancy substantially higher in all markets over the next few years. That will slam the brakes on rental growth, causing an... 12th April 2023 · 13 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Focus Housing rebound doesn’t look sustainable House prices rebounded in March but we aren’t convinced that this marks the beginning of a sustained rebound. Affordability is set to become the most stretched since the early 90s and if the... 11th April 2023 · 14 mins read
Canada Economics Weekly House price rebound would make Bank’s job harder The local real estate board data suggest that new listings fell again in March, defying expectations that high interest rates could lead to forced home sales. With supply falling by more than demand... 6th April 2023 · 4 mins read
London Housing Markets Chart Pack Affordability shapes London performance The Land Registry report that London house price growth slowed to 3.2% y/y in January and more timely data based on mortgage approvals show a 2.2% y/y fall in prices in Q1. The detail suggests that... 6th April 2023 · 7 mins read
UK Commercial Property Data Response S&P Global/CIPS Construction PMI (Mar.) The March headline CIPS Construction PMI reversed some of its surprise jump in February, but it remained in expansionary territory. That was driven by the commercial sector, where strong expectations... 6th April 2023 · 2 mins read
UK Housing Market Data Response Halifax House Prices (Mar.) The third consecutive monthly increase in house prices recorded by Halifax suggests that pricing is proving remarkably resilient to higher mortgage rates. But it is at odds with the consistent fall in... 6th April 2023 · 3 mins read
US Housing Market Data Response Mortgage Applications (Mar.) A sharp decline in 10-year Treasury yields in the middle of March led to a drop in mortgage rates, restoking demand for mortgage applications as a result. We expect this will help offset a tightening... 5th April 2023 · 2 mins read