Real estate price growth in the UK is accelerating but the market remains moderate – businesses live | Business

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A slight rise in real estate prices in the UK has not improved the depressed atmosphere of the UK property market.

Nationwide announced this morning that prices had risen 0.4% in April, meaning that the average property now costs £ 214,920. This is up from 0.2% growth in March, suggesting a recovery in demand.

But with annual real estate price growth of just 0.9% (up from 0.7% a month ago), real estate agents and sellers will not be happy, even though current data is more solid than expected.

Political uncertainty puts buyers off, while the shortage of properties on the market helps to support prices.

Robert Gardner, Chief Economist at Nationwide, said the market looks rather thoughtful:

"Consumer confidence measures weakened towards the end of the year and investigators indicated that inquiries from new buyers remained moderate.

"The number of buildings put on the market has also slowed down, but that does not seem to have been enough to prevent a modest change in the balance of supply and demand for buyers in recent months. April marks the fifth consecutive month of annual house price growth of less than 1%.

More soon….

Also coming today

It's a busy morning in town with results from the Persimmon edition of the Sainsbury's supermarket chain and the homebuilder.

The Bank of England publishes its latest data on consumer credit and mortgage approvals, which gives another glimpse of the UK real estate market.

The data firm Markit publishes its PMI survey of British manufacturers. Plant growth is expected to slow, as the boom in storage in Brexit runs out of steam. Economists predict that the PMI will fall from 55.1 to 53.1 (a slower expansion).

A separate survey this afternoon of US manufacturers is expected to show sustained growth.

The latest figures for oil stocks could also move markets – crude prices are particularly volatile, with Donald Trump pushing OPEC to increase production and Venezuela's supplies in serious doubt.

Then tonight, the US Federal Reserve will release its interest rate decision, but no change is expected.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is expected to play a decisive role in his press conference after being repeatedly invited by Donald Trump to cut interest rates.

L & # 39; s calendar

• 9:30 am Paris time: British manufacturing PMI for April
• 9:30 BST: mortgage approvals / consumer credit from Bank of England
• 15h Paris time: US manufacturing PMI for April
• 15:30 HST: Weekly figures of US oil stocks
• 7:00 pm NST: interest rate decision of the US Federal Reserve