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Homes sales continued to perk up in April, but it’s too early to call it a recovery

Homes sales continued to perk up in April, but it’s too early to call it a recovery

The official figures for property transactions will make comforting reading in April for those selling homes. They seem consistent with the prevailing view that the housing market, in terms of sales and not prices, is showing some signs of bouncing back up from the floor reached at the turn of the year. The latest stats show that in both March and April there were 58,000 deals. This compares with 41,000 in January and 43,000 in February.

Latest official figures reveal extent of the house building challenge

Latest official figures reveal extent of the house building challenge

The release of the first quarter 2009 house building figures for England will most likely provide a bit of everything for commentators, pundits and truth spinners. Chances are there are reasons to be more cheerful and reasons to be more depressed than you were after reading them. But for my money what the figures really underline is the challenge facing the nation as it strives to create a housing stock fit for purpose. So what can we take out of…

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Figures show more Eastern Europeans are giving up on the UK

Figures show more Eastern Europeans are giving up on the UK

The post credit crunch squeeze on the UK economy does appear to be encouraging more Eastern Europeans to call it a day and return home according to the latest information produced by the official statisticians at ONS. This does fit with the anecdotal evidence which suggests that the weak pound and better opportunities at home have made many foreign workers reconsider their stay in the UK. That said, the flow of Eastern Europeans into the UK still outweighs the numbers…

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Inflation fell more than expected in April

Inflation fell more than expected in April

The rate of inflation measured on the consumer prices index (CPI) fell sharply in April from 2.9% to 2.4%. This should be seen as good news for those operating in the housing market as a persistence of over target inflation may have hastened the time when interest rates return to more normal levels. And a fear of higher interest rates looming could dampen the ardour of potential buyers. Faster falling inflation and the expectation of much lower inflation to come…

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Report shows 10-fold increase in 2008 in unsold new homes in London

Report shows 10-fold increase in 2008 in unsold new homes in London

The more you scratch the available data on residential development the more astounding seems the transformation in market conditions over 2008. I was invited to be the editor of The Red Book for this year’s edition. For those not familiar with the book it is produced annually and provides analysis and information on the London new build resi market from drawing on the extensive London Residential Research database of live developments in the capital. The Red Book is now out,…

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And this year’s new optimism is…

And this year’s new optimism is…

Everything becomes this year’s new black at some point. Nothing is ever simply itself anymore. That’s fine in a postmodern culture of moral relativism that is accepting of a laid back usage of language and grammar. I’m fairly relaxed about that. But there comes a point when it all gets a bit too weird. For me I rather like my optimism to be optimistic, my pessimism pessimistic. I’m a bit old fashioned like that. So a new trend I have…

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Traders see a brighter future for house prices – but still expect a further 17% drop

Traders see a brighter future for house prices – but still expect a further 17% drop

Follow the money they say. Well the money punted in the futures market suggests that average house prices still have at least 17% to fall. That puts the peak-to-trough drop at more than a third. But the good news for those selling homes is that the mood among the traders has perked up over the past three months, which in a sense is a barometer of the mood generally. In November and December last year you could have bought a…

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If it’s growth you want, start looking again at house building

If it’s growth you want, start looking again at house building

I received a bit of a teasing prod this morning from my good friend the editor of CJ, Aaron Morby, when he rang me up to quiz me on house building targets. “Don’t you think we are seeing a recovery in house building?” Which he followed with: “I hope you don’t miss it.” He was at the SED show and there was a buzz about house builders opening up new sites. There has been a bit of talk about this…

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Redundancies ravage the construction workforce – 141,000 jobs gone in the past 12 months

Redundancies ravage the construction workforce – 141,000 jobs gone in the past 12 months

The numbers made redundant in construction over the past 12 months have mounted to 141,000, according to the latest set of figures released by the official statisticians at ONS. Almost 100,000 of those redundancies were made in the six months from October last year to March this year. These figures will grossly underestimate the numbers of people being forced out of work by the recession, as they do not take into account the self employed. Perhaps more heartbreaking for those…

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Look east to find some shelter from the storm

Look east to find some shelter from the storm

My good friend Martin Hewes has just past me some details of the latest Hewes & Associates forecast for new work construction output.   It will not make for comfortable reading if you happen to be trading heavily in Yorkshire & Humberside.