House prices are falling across the country.

House prices are falling across the country, with estate agents at their most gloomy since 2009 and more than two-thirds of the most expensive properties selling for below their asking price, a survey showed today. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said its house price balance, which measures the difference between the percentage of surveyors seeing rises and falls in house prices, fell to minus 48 in February from minus 46 in January, the lowest figure since April 2009. The professional body also found that 70 per cent of properties marketed for £500,000 or more sold for less than their asking price, a figure that dipped to 60 per cent for less expensive ones. In addition, data from the Bank of England this month showed that the average interest rate on new mortgages rose to 3.9 per cent in January, the highest since 2010.

Gabriella Dickens, an economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, the consultancy, said prices would probably fall over the coming months to roughly 8 per cent below their August 2022 peak. Martin Beck, chief economic adviser to the EY Item Club, a forecasting house, predicted a larger peak-to-trough fall of 10-15 per cent. With many people unable to afford a mortgage or a deposit, the letting market continued to grow in February. Tenant demand increased to a net balance of 32, while rent price expectations for the next quarter remained elevated at 45.

The survey also showed some early signs of stabilisation in the sales market, with the balance of new buyer inquiries rising from minus 45 to minus 29 months on month.

www.sba.tax

Comments

Cloud Bookkeeping

US FED rate rise.

The US Federal Reserve officials have indicated that they plan to resume increasing interest rates to control inflation in the world's biggest economy. During the June meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee reached a consensus to keep interest rates stable for the time being to evaluate whether further tightening of policy would be necessary. However, the majority of the committee anticipates that additional rate increases will be required in the future. The minutes of the meeting have recently been made public. According to the minutes, most participants believed maintaining the federal funds rate at 5 to 5.25 per cent was appropriate or acceptable, despite some individuals wanting to raise the acceleration due to slow progress in cooling inflation. Although Fed forecasts predicted a mild recession starting later in the year, policymakers faced challenges in interpreting data that showed a tight job market and only slight improvements in inflation. Additionally, officials gr...

EU business slide.

S&P Global’s flash eurozone composite purchasing managers’ index, a key gauge of business conditions for the manufacturing and services sector, fell 1 point to 47.1, figures showed yesterday. That is its lowest level since November 2020 and the fourth consecutive month below the crucial 50 mark separating growth from contraction. One of the few bright spots in the survey was that companies in all sectors reported a slight easing of cost pressures, price growth and supply chain constraints. However, prices charged for goods and services still rose at the sixth fastest rate since such data started in 2002. Jobs growth increased marginally from October but remained low compared with the past 18 months. Following a few months of falling price pressure in manufacturing and services, the October print shows an overall stabilisation said Jens Eisenschmidt, chief European economist at Morgan Stanley. However, German businesses, at the hub of Europe’s energy crisis, reported that manu...

India- UK trade deal.

According to India's top trade official, talks with the UK regarding a trade agreement are progressing well, despite obstacles related to temporary work visas and the opening up industries like automotive and spirits. The Commerce and Industry Minister, Piyush Goyal, explained that India is seeking transition periods or greater market access in specific sectors due to its economy, which is slightly larger than the UK's and expected to outgrow it in the coming decades. If a trade deal is reached, it would be one of the most significant agreements for Britain since leaving the EU, and it would also be necessary for India, which surpassed the UK as the fifth-largest economy last year. Goyal stated that India aims to increase its economy from $3.5tn to $35tn by 2047, the country's centenary of independence. According to officials and diplomats in India, talks about a proposed trade deal may be finished by early September, just in time for the G20 summit in New Delhi. Nigel Hu...

Search This Blog