House Prices cycles – UK and USA compared Posted on May 29, 2009 by John Ashcroft Comparison is made between house price cycles in the UK and USA using data from the Nationwide house price index and data from the Case-Schiller Index for the USA. Indices rebased to 2000 = 100. In the USA house prices … Read More
Nationwide house prices May – fall by 11.3% year on year Posted on May 29, 2009 by John Ashcroft According to the latest data from Nationwide, house prices have risen for the second time in three months. The average house price increased by 1.2% to £154,016 from £151,861 but the annual rate of decline slowed to 11.3% in May … Read More
Green shoots in the USA – can it really be over soon? Posted on May 27, 2009 by John Ashcroft Green shoots in the USA can the recession really be over soon. According to three key US indicators, the recession could be over by the second half of 2009. 1 The Conference Board Leading Economic Index™ for the U.S. Increased … Read More
GDP and inflation trends – confused about inflation join the club Posted on May 22, 2009 by John Ashcroft Each month the Treasury produces the analysis of forty forecasting institutions for the British economy including estimates of twenty five parameters from house prices to oil prices including GDP and inflation. It is a great must read! In terms of … Read More
Government borrowing soars to £8.5 billion in April Posted on May 22, 2009 by John Ashcroft The Chancellor is off to a flying start in the race to hit the record £175 billion forecast for 2009/10. In April the public sector had a net borrowing requirement of £8.5 billion, £6.6 billion higher than in April 2008, … Read More
S & P casts a shadow – will the UK lose the AAA rating? Posted on May 21, 2009 by John Ashcroft Standard & Poor's Ratings Services today said it had revised its outlook on the United Kingdom to negative from stable. However, the 'AAA' long-term sovereign credit rating was affirmed for now The UK is on notice to improve the prospects … Read More
UK Retail sales up 2.6% in April Posted on May 21, 2009 by John Ashcroft According to the latest ONS data, The seasonally-adjusted volume of retail sales in April was 2.6 per cent higher than in April 2008. Food stores volumes rose by 1.5 per cent, the largest increase since May 2008. Non-food stores volume … Read More
Chancellor Darling – it will all be over by Christmas Posted on May 20, 2009 by John Ashcroft According to the latest minutes of the Monetary Policy Committee released today, 1 The outlook for economic growth was unusually uncertain. [30]2 The strength and sustainability of the recovery was uncertain. [31]3 The outlook for inflation also remained extremely uncertain. … Read More
UK Inflation April – CPI service sector inflation 3.6% Posted on May 19, 2009 by John Ashcroft CPI inflation slowed to 2.3% in April, from 2.9%. RPIX inflation slowed to 1.7 per cent from 2.2 per cent. Deflation headlines are dominated by the RPI inflation number where the RPI headline rate has fallen to -1.2%. The largest … Read More
Rightmove Housing – asking prices up – realised prices down Posted on May 18, 2009 by John Ashcroft New sellers are pushing up asking prices by 2.4%, driven by a mixture of ambition, optimism and necessity according to Rightmove the UK’s largest property web site. Compared to prior year prices are down by 6.2% and 7.4% in April. … Read More
