UK Housing Market Data Response Mortgage Arrears and Possessions (Q1) The latest rise in the number of households with mortgage arrears equivalent to at least 10% of their outstanding mortgage balance underlines how important lender forbearance has been in limiting the... 10th May 2012 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Bank of Korea inflation worries to dissipate The Bank of Korea (BoK) kept its policy rate at 3.25% today, as expected. Given that inflation is in retreat and concerns for the global economy are on the rise, we think the BoK’s stance will soon... 10th May 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Commercial Property Update RICS Global Survey too upbeat on Polish and Czech rental values Last week’s Q1 2012 RICS Global Survey revealed a divergence in surveyors’ expectations for commercial property rental growth in Emerging Europe. We agree that the outlook is brightest in Russia and... 10th May 2012 · 1 min read
Canada Chart Pack Housing market continues to raise eyebrows The surprisingly strong surge in housing starts, to 244,900 annualised in April, is yet another sign that Canada's housing market is dangerously overheating. Admittedly, starts have only recovered to... 9th May 2012 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Is this Poland’s “ECB moment”? The post-MPC press conference did not provide much clarity on whether this morning’s surprise hike in Polish interest rates was a one-off event or the start of a new tightening cycle. On balance, we... 9th May 2012 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Middle East Markets Monitor (May) Fresh hopes that some equity markets in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) had turned a corner at the start of 2012 have quickly faded. Instead, attention has turned to Islamic bond markets... 9th May 2012 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Chart Pack Plenty more home sales pending March’s further fall in home sales is a potentially worrying sign that the improvement in housing market activity is already petering out. But we are encouraged by the fact that pending home sales are... 9th May 2012 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Is Putin 2.0 for real? In his first speech since returning to the Russian presidency, Vladimir Putin underlined the need to shift towards a more liberal economic policy. We have been here before, of course, and we remain... 9th May 2012 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Brent on course to end year below $100 Crude oil prices have remained weak after last week’s sharp falls, largely due to concerns over the US economy and the escalating problems in Europe. We expect these pressures to ebb and flow over the... 9th May 2012 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus Is household debt a problem? In our view, recent suggestions that the high level of UK household debt is not a problem are complacent. We continue to think that further deleveraging by households will hold back consumer spending... 9th May 2012 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Focus Can Chile get rich off commodities? History indicates that it is very difficult for a country to get rich purely through the extraction of natural resources. In order to meet President Piñera’s target of becoming a developed nation... 9th May 2012 · 1 min read
Global Markets Update Patience could be a virtue in the UK stock market What return can investors in the UK stock market realistically expect? Our end-2012 and end-2013 forecasts for the FTSE 100 are 5,300, a drop of around 4% from its current level. We anticipate that... 9th May 2012 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Is new-build housing demand a sign of improving buyer sentiment? Demand in the new build sector has recently been stronger than for the market as a whole. This could be the first sign that buyer sentiment is improving. But it seems more likely that the data simply... 9th May 2012 · 1 min read
UK Data Response BRC Retail Sales Monitor (Apr.) Results from the latest BRC survey accord with other evidence that the recent strength of high street spending is fading. 9th May 2012 · 1 min read
Capital Daily Sanguine response to political disarray in Greece unlikely to last 9th May 2012 · 1 min read
