Brickonomics

The latest stats from the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices show that US house prices are continuing to fall apace – down a further 2% in March 2008 across the top 20 metropolitan areas. This makes a continuous line of house price falls from August 2006 producing a total fall in house prices of about 17% and there is little sign that the fall stops here.

For those who like to take comfort from seeing the UK market in a global context I commend to you the latest round-up of international house-price indicators by the Economist. What is clear is just how far the UK house prices have boomed compared with most other countries. That the UK’s national index shows growth tha tis double that in the US nationally may worry some people. What I find more intriguing is that on a crowded island with a…

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The latest data confirms that potential homebuyers are still treating the current housing market with extreme caution resulting in fewer mortgages, fewer sales and lower prices. Hometrack data for May shows prices down nationally by 0.5% on the month after a 0.6% fall in April. But the more worrying trend for sellers is the fall in new registrations with agents, down 6.7% on the month. The lack of potential homebuyers also shows in the latest British Banking Association figures which…

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After several years of decline in construction output in the civil engineering market the demand is set to grow in all infrastructure sectors over the coming years, according to the BCIS Civil Engineering Market Report.

The construction industry was one of the stronger elements of the UK economy in the first quarter of 2008, according to official figures that show the annual growth of GDP (gross domestic product) slowing to 2.5%. According to the ONS figures construction grew 0.5% in the first quarter and stood 2.9% up on last year in real terms.

The latest figures on buy-to let mortgages from the Council of Mortgages Lenders do provide some comfort for house builders tackling an increasingly tough market. There were fears that buy-to-let borrowing would collapse with the first whiff of a slowdown in house prices, but the figures suggest otherwise. The figures suggest buy-to-let is holding up better than mortgage lending to homebuyers (see graph Buy to let and home loans ). Buy-to-let lenders appear to be buoyed by a strengthening rental…

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As a new consensus appears to be forming that house prices will fall between 5% and 10% this year, the Council of Mortgage Lenders has updated its forecast for house price growth with a prediction of a 7% fall. CML is also expecting to see repossessions grow from 27,100 in 2007 to 45,000 this year.

The latest official figures on average weekly earnings suggests a slowdown in pay earned in construction. Average weekly earnings in the first quarter of 2008 were a shade down on the final quarter of last year and the monthly figures suggest a drop in the rate of growth in earnings, as the graph shows. Average weekly earnings in construction

The official figures for property transactions worth more than £40,000 (mainly houses) show a drop of 31% in the four months to April compared with the same period a year ago. The data shows just how hope of a spring bounce in the housing market have been dashed.