Brickonomics

House building looks set for growth in 2010

Brickonomics — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:22:31 GMT

The latest Government house building numbers strongly suggest that a shade more than 100,000 homes will be built in England in 2009. This would represent a 40% drop on the peak year of 2007 and make 2009 a record peacetime low. There are hints of hope...(read more)

Are expectations of inflation too low?

Brickonomics — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:59:38 GMT

Inflation is now on the way up. That was to be expected. As Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, keeps reminding us, we should expect inflation to be very volatile for some while. But, is it me or do the forecasts for inflation reaching a mini...(read more)

New Year stamp duty switchback will have little impact, says RICS

Brickonomics — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:34:11 GMT

For those interested in what will happen when the stamp duty holiday comes to an end on December 31, the surveyors' body RICS has done a little bit of research among its members. Basically, the results seem to suggest that by and large the effect...(read more)

Christmas sales come to the housing market

Brickonomics — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:56:03 GMT

It's the run up to Christmas and we're in a recession - well if not technically, we're definitely suffering from the recession - so don't be surprised to see redundancies on the rise and asking prices for homes on the decline. It is the...(read more)

Construction continues to shed workers at an alarming pace

Brickonomics — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:59:24 GMT

A further 38,000 construction workers were made redundant in the three months to September according to the latest Government labour market figures . This raises the total of employees shed over the previous 12 months to 177,000. Meanwhile the figures...(read more)

The stagnant housing market: More a problem of first-time movers than first-time buyers

Brickonomics — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:41:12 GMT

First-time buyers are increasingly becoming trapped in their first-time homes and unable to move on to homes that better suit their needs. That at least is the implication of some figures that caught my eye recently when I was looking though some data...(read more)

Has the housing mini-boom run out of puff?

Brickonomics — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:34:42 GMT

All the gauges appear to be reading "set fair" in the housing market, so why the long faces among those in the know? The latest RICS housing market survey on the face of it provides every reason to suspect that better times lie ahead. This follows...(read more)

Optimism alive and kicking in construction

Brickonomics — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:04:45 GMT

The RICS construction survey for the third quarter of 2009 found confidence over increased workloads returning to the industry for the first time since 2008 Q1. This was despite an overall fall in workload across the industry as a whole and the fact that...(read more)

Orders figures continue to point to a rougher road ahead

Brickonomics — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:44:55 GMT

For those poring over the latest new orders figures released today to find guidance on the future of construction activity I suspect there is something for the optimists, but rather more for the pessimists. It must be said that trying to discern sensible...(read more)

Growing evidence of double dip collapse for construction

Brickonomics — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:21:38 GMT

The latest round of trade survey data points to an ugly acceleration in the rate of collapse of workloads. Persistent sightings of green shoots over the late spring and summer now look to have been little more than a mirage. Read More......(read more)

Falling construction helps hold UK in recession

Brickonomics — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 09:40:32 GMT

An estimated fall of 1.1% in construction output in the third quarter of this year has helped to hold the UK economic growth in recessionary territory. Much to the surprise of many analysts the UK economy appears to have remained in recession, with GDP...(read more)

Why let planning just look like a lottery? Make it one

Brickonomics — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:11:18 GMT

On the subject of Grant Shapps and John Healey, I attended the Housing Market Intelligence conference last week at which both spoke. I obviously recommend the conference because I have a vested interest in it and indeed the associated report, which I...(read more)

Food for thought for would-be housing minister

Brickonomics — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 10:49:59 GMT

The Building and Social Housing Foundation has emailed its latest report " The Future of Housing ", which has just been published. It would be rather tricky to summarise the document other than to say it provides a critical look at the state...(read more)

Forecasts suggest some rays of hope, but huge uncertainty remains

Brickonomics — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:35:14 GMT

For those with an optimistic nature there was some good news to be seen in the latest set of industry forecasts with both the Construction Products Association and Hewes trimming how much they feel output in the industry will fall. Indeed the three forecasts...(read more)

Future traders think the tide has turned for house prices

Brickonomics — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:11:31 GMT

The futures market is now pricing in strong growth in the housing market, with the Halifax index priced to rise by 6% over the coming 12 months and by 12% over 5 years. This is a marked rise in the prices from just a month ago and reflects the uplift...(read more)