House prices: the bears are back
13 Jul 2010 [0 Comments | 349 views]
If you go down to the woods today, you are sure of a big surprise, for every bear that ever there was, will gather there for certain because, today’s the day that housing bears have their picnic. 2009 was a puzzle. The UK economy was in the midst of the deepest recession since the dinosaurs [...]
Why did house prices rise in the depths of recession?
13 Jul 2010 [0 Comments | 199 views]
Why did house prices rise in the depths of recession? In part, prices went up because although demand was low, supply was even lower. This column said throughout this period that in such circumstances it would take only a modest change in the key supply and demand variables to have a major effect on price. [...]
Halifax sees house price fall for third successive month
13 Jul 2010 [0 Comments | 164 views]
Another month. This time, evidence seems to be growing that house prices may be falling. Mortgages: 100,230 mortgages were approved in May, which was 1 per cent down on the month before. The total value of mortgages in the month was worth £11.4bn, 3 per cent up on April. Mortgages approved for house purchases stood [...]
FSA wants to end self-certified mortgages
13 Jul 2010 [0 Comments | 151 views]
And then the stable door was locked. Pity the poor horse when it turned round to come back home. It couldn’t get past the door; it was, after all, locked. Back during the boom, mortgage lending was mad. This is not being wise in hindsight, this column said so often enough at the time. Now, [...]
RICS points to rising supply
15 Jun 2010 [1 Comment | 255 views]
As you know, it was low supply that saved the UK housing market from a bigger crash. Demand crashed, but so did supply. HIPs were a factor, as many home-owners felt they could not afford to put their home on the market. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors tracks new enquiries, which determine new demand, [...]
House prices go off at a tangent
7 Jun 2010 [0 Comments | 219 views]
According to the latest Nationwide survey, house prices rose in May. According to the Halifax, they fell. According to the Nationwide, prices were up 0.5 per cent in May on the month before. The annual rate of house price inflation is 10.5 per cent. According to the building society the average house price in May [...]
House prices rise
3 Jun 2010 [0 Comments | 160 views]
House prices rose by 0.5 per cent in May, after rising 1.1 per cent the month before, says the latest survey from the Nationwide, out this morning. The building society says prices are now just 10 per cent below the 2007 peak. Martin Gahbauer, Nationwide’s Chief Economist, said: “The coalition agreement between the Conservatives and [...]
Which way next for global house prices?
28 May 2010 [0 Comments | 2,884 views]
The latest OECD economic outlook report hit us with some fascinating stuff about global house prices. And what is really good about the OECD data is that it may well have presented just about the most meaningful data of the lot. It looked at the ratio of average prices to income and rent going back [...]
House prices in pre-election pick up
11 May 2010 [1 Comment | 704 views]
The latest round of housing data is now complete. The Halifax, Nationwide and Hometrack have all released their April surveys; the Bank of England’s latest data on mortgage approvals was out a couple of weeks ago; and this morning it was the turn of RICS. By far the most interesting of the findings of late [...]
House prices: the axis flips
13 Apr 2010 [0 Comments | 396 views]
Another month, another set of figures. The latest set of data relating to the UK housing market is complete, with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), Halifax, Nationwide, Hometrack and the Bank of England all publishing their contributions over the last couple of weeks. The most interesting of the reports is the one out [...]
