Knight Frank Daily Update Monday 11th May
A road map out of lockdown, the latest prime London residential data and our latest podcast
2 minutes to read
Good morning,
Economic headlines
Boris Johnson last night set Britain on the first steps to “reopening society” with an outline of his road map out of lockdown. Central to the plan is the change in emphasis, to urge those who can’t work from home to go to work if they can do so safely, in an attempt to kick start construction and manufacturing.
The UK government said yesterday there had been an additional 269 deaths from Covid-19, the lowest daily total for six weeks. France and Italy also posted their lowest number of fatalities since March.
Asian stocks climbed on the news, as did US and European equity futures.
France, Spain, Denmark and Norway are all joining the UK in easing restrictions on movement as conditions improve, though examples in China, South Korea and Germany provide a glimpse of the challenges ahead.
China and South Korea reimposed some social distancing measures following small, localised outbreaks, and the lifting of restrictions in three districts in Germany has been delayed after the reproduction rate — the average number of people that each confirmed coronavirus patient infects — rose to just above 1.
Property market headlines
Anna Ward today continues our “Intelligence Talks” podcast series with a closer look at the latest housing market data, plus an analysis of what measures could eventually be brought in to get property markets moving again – the podcast is available on Spotify and Apple.
This morning we publish our detailed outlook for the UK residential market, covering sales, pricing, the rental market, residential development and the finance and mortgage markets.
Both prospective buyers and renters are turning their attention to life after lockdown. In the sales market, the sharp decline in web views, new buyer registrations and even transaction numbers appear to be slowly reversing. Based on data as of 5 May 2020, the total potential spend of all buyers registered with Knight Frank in London was £52 billion. This compares to £43.5 billion on the same day in 2019, a 20% increase.
Meanwhile in the rental market, new tenant registrations were 59% below the five-year average in the week ending 28 March, but that decline had narrowed to 38% by the week ending 2 May.
Tom Bill has more details in our new Prime London Sales and Lettings Indices.
If you have any questions, please contact me, or the team.