The U.K. housing market recovery is gathering speed according to the latest data and is set to be further supported by government funding schemes, but some are warning the measures could spur a housing bubble and the government should instead be tackling the lack of housing supply. On Tuesday, the British Bankers Association (BBA) reported that mortgage approvals hit a 17-month high in June, totaling 37,278. Approvals were up 32.4 percent compared to June 2012.
The BBA figures add to several data and surveys recently indicating a turnaround for the U.K. housing market, helped by improving consumer confidence and elevated employment. Howard Archer, chief U.K. and European economist at IHS Global Insight, said housing prices would rise as a result of the increased activity, though a challenging and somewhat uncertain economic environment remained. "We expect house prices to see solid but relatively limited increases over the rest of 2013 and to then strengthen more markedly in 2014…[However] housing market activity is also currently still limited compared to long-term norms despite the recent pick-up in activity." une mortgage approvals were still only 68.7 percent of the average monthly level of 54,233 seen since 1997, Archer said.
"Nevertheless, there is a very real and growing possibility that with market activity now seemingly gaining appreciable momentum, house prices could surprise on the upside over the second half of 2013, especially as a shortage of new properties for sale is currently providing support to house prices in some areas, notably London and the South East," he added. Archer's comments come as a report warned that a bubble in "Prime Central London" (PCL) property was growing. The typical property price in prime central London was now more than 6.5-times the national average and has risen by almost 20 percent since 2012, according to research by economists at Fathom Consulting and property investment firm Development Securities.
No comments:
Post a Comment