Brickonomics

The latest figures from Nationwide show a rise in prices for the third month on the trot, which puts the price of an average house at 1.3% more than at the start of the year. This sign of buoyancy is not isolated, we are seeing various indexes pointing to an uplift in prices and various other data pointing to more stability in the housing market generally. But there remains a huge amount of caution. History can only provide vague ideas…

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For the third month in a row Hometrack has registered steady house prices, with a perkier southern market compensating for weaker activity in the north. But this has not led Richard Donnell, Director of Research at the housing market data provider, to call the bottom of the market. Viewed in isolation, ignoring the data on the broader economy, it is easy to see these figures as positive, with the time to sell homes dropping, lower discounts and more postcodes registering…

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What would happen if the taxpayer (via the Government) decided to give first-time buyers otherwise unable to raise a deposit £10,000 so they could buy a new home? The answer, at least on the face of it, is a bit quirky and, perhaps, for house builders quite delightful. The sums suggest the taxpayer would be about £20,000 better off. Well that is the answer from putting together some very simple numbers and making some pretty crude assumptions.

The latest GDP figures showed a marked slowdown in the rate of collapse of the economy. But the drop of 0.8% was significantly more than economists were expecting, if the mood judged by Reuters gives a fair assessment. The median of its poll of economist put the expected second quarter fall at 0.3%. So we can expect some rather flavoursome language coming from those economists and commentators quoted in the media as they describe the impact on people’s jobs and…

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Following the poser I posted on that rather surprising spike in planning times for residential schemes, I have had a few questions and a few suggestions. The pint for the first (and sensible) response going to Alasdair Reisner, Head of Industry Affairs at the Civil Engineering Contractors Association. But by way of an answer to Noble’s comment today and to a few other emails quizzing me on what I think may lie behind that paradoxical spike in the apparent time…

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One figure in the commentary alongside the latest set of Rightmove statistics caught my eye – apparently there has been a 20% increase in sellers coming to the market compared with the previous year. Rightmove puts this down to resurgence in home movers putting their current homes on the market with more confidence of finding a buyer. There has been much talk of people who needed to move renting their homes out rather than selling them into a bleak market….

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Here’s a mystery. I have my own theories, and admittedly have the advantage of the data to test them, but I was wondering if there are any of you out there who have any views as to what might lie behind this rather surprising effect of the credit crunch. I will refrain from contaminating your thoughts with my suspicions other than to say that the analysis I have been doing leads me to suspect a combination of factors, but…

The shortage of homes on the market has provided surveyors with increased confidence that house prices may rise, according to the latest RICS survey. For the first time since May 2007 more surveyors polled by the RICS expect house prices to rise than expect them to fall. And the RICS sales to stock ratio measure which has proved a reasonable indicator of price movements over time is now on the up. But there appears to be a general recognition that…

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