Knight Frank daily update Monday 27th April
Knight Frank daily update: markets gain, governments ease lockdowns, and house builders and tenants look beyond lockdown
2 minutes to read
Good morning,
Economic headlines
Global markets gained overnight as governments fleshed out plans to reopen economies. Japanese stocks led a rise across Asia, while futures markets were predicting US and European markets would open higher as well.
Yesterday, Boris Johnson returned to Downing Street to resume control of the UK government. He is expected to announce plans for how the lockdown could be eased as early as this week.
Rather than a "binary" lifting of the lockdown, Britain is likely to move to a new normal that involves some form of longer-term social distancing, Dominic Raab said yesterday. The next deadline by which Mr Johnson must legally review the measures that are currently in place is May 7.
The government announced 413 more deaths yesterday, the lowest daily figure this month. The US recorded its lowest death toll in three weeks, and Italy recorded its lowest toll since mid-March.
Spain lifted some restrictions allowing children outside their homes for the first time in six weeks, Italy allowed people to travel within their regions and France will announce moves to end its lockdown tomorrow.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo sketched out a phased reopening that will begin with the construction and manufacturing sectors.
Property market headlines
This morning we published our weekly outlook for UK transactions, prices, rents, construction and the mortgage markets.
House builders are among businesses leading Britain out of the lockdown. Barratt and Bellway are poised to join Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon in returning to building sites.
As the construction industry plans its return to work strategy, Oliver Knight provides a detailed analysis of the lockdown's implications, with delivery likely to tumble 35% in 2020.
Demand for rental property has picked up in April as prospective tenants begin to plan for life after the lockdown, writes Tom Bill. The number of web views for rental properties during the week ended 4 April was 1% higher than the five-year average. By the week ending 18 April, the increase was 10%.
Andrew Shirley has this detailed update on rural markets spanning commodity prices to the shooting season, and Stephen Springham in his retail update finds online sales, though picking up, are not keeping pace with lost store-based sales.
This morning we launch a new podcast, Intelligence Talks, that will delve deeper into the issues explored in our daily updates. In our first episode, Anna Ward probes what action the government could take to boost the housing market post-lockdown, where buyers stuck in the sales process can turn, and the emergency measures in place to keep development ticking over.
Our new podcast is also available through Spotify and Apple.
If you have any questions, please contact me, or the team.