Knight Frank Daily Update Thursday 4th June
Prime London prices, US mortgages and home sales in Hong Kong
2 minutes to read
Good morning,
Need to know
A slew of key global economic indicators continue to suggest declines in many economies are beginning to moderate. The data, which in many cases shows early gains from record lows, is fuelling stock market advances.
In Britain, a survey of the huge services and manufacturing sectors rose to 30.0 from 13.8 in April, as some companies saw new orders from the Asia-Pacific region, where the recovery is more advanced, and from new online sales efforts.
British car sales edged up in May after falling to their lowest since 1946 in April, but still remained almost 90% below their level a year earlier.
Meanwhile prices in shops in Britain fell at the fastest pace since at least 2006 as retailers sought to find a way to win over shoppers hit by the lockdown.
In the US, jobs losses in May could be significantly lower than economists expected.
The European Central Bank is today expected to announce a fresh boost to its stimulus efforts to tackle the financial fallout from the pandemic.
The property market
Tom Bill has the latest data from prime London, which shows demand is recovering towards pre-lockdown levels faster than supply, reducing downwards pressure on prices.
The number of new prospective buyers in the week ending 30 May was 35% above the five-year average and only 14% below the figure recorded in the second week of March. Meanwhile, the number of new instructions to sell in the last week of May was 43% below the figure for the same week in March.
The update also includes monthly movements in pricing across prime central and prime outer London.
Meanwhile in the prime London lettings market, the number of new prospective tenants was 4% above the five-year average in the week ending 30 May.
In the latest diary of an agent, Chris Druce explores the interest in country property, the scarcity of stock, and the debate over post-lockdown pricing.
This morning we update our outlook for key residential markets globally. Kate Everett-Allen's analysis reveals a record monthly jump in US mortgage applications and increasing home sales in China and Hong Kong.
You can read more on markets across Asia-Pacific in our latest regional bulletin, published yesterday.
If you have any questions, please contact me, or the team.