Knight Frank Daily Update Wednesday 3rd June
Where next for Hong Kong, the outlook for mortgage lending, and Australian expat flight
2 minutes to read
Good morning,
Need to know
The global rally in stocks continued Wednesday as investors bet on a rapid economic recovery. Oil rose, with Brent at $40 for the first time since March.
In China, which managed to contain the outbreak by March, a closely-watched survey of service sector activity CNPMIS=ECI showed its index recovered to pre-epidemic levels in May.
With UK/EU Brexit negotiations at an impasse, hopes for a breakthrough have been pinned on a meeting later this month between Boris Johnson, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Council President Charles Michel.
In the UK scientists are poised to recruit NHS patients in the search for a blood test that could predict how ill people with Covid-19 are likely to become. Researchers have identified dozens of proteins in the blood that appear to forecast how a patient is likely to fare.
Bloomberg has a useful tool tracking the more than 120 vaccines in development globally.
The property market
The scale of the property market freeze became clear yesterday when the Bank of England said mortgage approvals for house purchase fell 80% between February and April - or to about half the level seen at the depths of the Global Financial Crisis.
With surveyors now able to work, they are working their way through a backlog of valuations for applications built up over the course of the lockdown, writes Simon Gammon of Knight Frank Finance. Mortgage markets had been at their busiest for five years in February. We expect a post-lockdown surge in approvals as the backlog is cleared and those that had wished to move home or remortgage become able to do so.
With the growing focus on Equity Release among borrowers and the media, later life finance expert David Forsdyke has responded to a Sunday Times case study published over the weekend. The note provides an interesting insight into the mechanics of a fast-growing part of the lending market.
Tom Bill is a guest on the Telegraph’s daily Coronavirus podcast and talks about the complexities involved in judging what will happen next to property prices. We'll be publishing a new analysis of prime London house prices on the Knight Frank Intelligence Lab later today, which will include the latest data on demand, instructions and discounts. We'll bring you more in tomorrow's note.
As several Australian states ease restrictions on social distancing, Victoria Garrett, Head of Residential, Asia Pacific speaks to Shayne Harris, Head of Residential, Australia about the expat flight to Australia, factors that attract offshore investors, and when foreign investors should buy.
Martin Wong has the latest data spanning commercial and residential markets in Hong Kong, and Risinee Sarikaputra provides an update on Bangkok condominiums.
If you have any questions, please contact me, or the team.