US Housing Market Rapid Response Existing Home Sales (May.) As expected, existing home sales remained relatively unchanged in May, rising by +0.2% m/m to 4,300,000 annualised. Despite this marginal rise, a decline in mortgage applications for home purchase in... 22nd June 2023 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Focus What will be the damage from 6% mortgage rates? A return to mortgage rates of around 6% for the first time since 2007 guarantees a renewed slump in mortgage lending and a further leg down in house prices. Were mortgage rates to be sustained at that... 20th June 2023 · 15 mins read
US Housing Market Rapid Response Housing Starts (May.) Single-family starts saw the largest monthly increase in nearly three years in May, suggesting homebuilders have been responding to the recent rises in new home sales. We still expect a mild recession... 20th June 2023 · 2 mins read
UK Housing Market Data Response Mortgage Lenders and Administrators Return (Q1 23) With mortgage rates surging, the number of loans issued to buy a home dropped sharply in Q1, with Buy-to-Let lending seeing the most severe drop. Those that did press ahead with a home purchase... 13th June 2023 · 2 mins read
US Housing Market Chart Pack Pause in house price declines to prove temporary The seven-month run of house price declines recently ground to a halt, with the Case-Shiller index showing an increase in prices in both February and March. This was partly driven by the temporary... 9th June 2023 · 9 mins read
UK Housing Market Update Refinancing risks increase The recent upward revision to our mortgage rate forecast and the fact that the majority of those that need to refinance this year are on two-year fixes means that we are now more worried about the... 8th June 2023 · 3 mins read
UK Housing Market Update RICS Residential Market Survey (May.) The significant improvement in the RICS survey in May echoed the pause in house price falls in the past few months. But the survey also showed an increase in supply, which could make prices more... 8th June 2023 · 3 mins read
US Housing Market Rapid Response Mortgage Applications (May) Mortgage applications for home purchase fell to their lowest level in almost 30 years in May, as a renewed rise in mortgage rates weighed on demand. This points to further near-term weakness for home... 7th June 2023 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Rapid Response BoE Mortgage Lending (April 23) The renewed decline in mortgage approvals in April will have dashed hopes that the jump in March marked the start of a recovery. Moreover, with mortgage rates now on their way back up, lending is... 1st June 2023 · 2 mins read
UK Housing Market Rapid Response Nationwide House Prices (May 23) House prices flattened off in May after a rise in April. But with mortgage rates now on their way back up we suspect that the stabilisation in prices over the last couple of months will soon give way... 1st June 2023 · 2 mins read
US Housing Market Data Response Case-Shiller/FHFA House Prices (Mar.) In line with the stronger-than-expected economic data releases at the start of the year, house prices proved resilient in March. But we expect the economy to weaken in the coming months, which will... 30th May 2023 · 3 mins read
UK Housing Market Update Rise in mortgage rates will trigger renewed downturn The upward revision to our Bank Rate forecast suggests that mortgage rates will return to a similar peak as last autumn by the end of the year. That would undermine the recent pick-up in mortgage... 30th May 2023 · 2 mins read
UK Housing Market Update Tight supply limits US and UK house price falls The increase in mortgage rates has been the main determinant of the size of house price falls in developed market economies. Very tight supply in the US, and to a lesser extent the UK, has also... 25th May 2023 · 4 mins read
US Housing Market Data Response New Home Sales (Apr.) New home sales recovered to close to pre-pandemic levels in April as a lack of existing homes for sale pushed buyers to the new build sector. But still-stretched affordability and a weakening economy... 23rd May 2023 · 2 mins read
US Housing Market Data Response Existing Home Sales (Apr.) Existing home sales fell back towards their recent lows in April, not helped by a very tight inventory. The high cost of a new mortgage is acting to discourage homeowners with a low fixed-rate... 18th May 2023 · 2 mins read
US Housing Market Data Response Housing Starts (Apr.) Homebuilders have turned their attention to finishing off the large number of homes under construction rather than starting new ones, keeping single-family starts close to their recent lows in April... 17th May 2023 · 2 mins read