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UK:Home lending reaches £16bn

An estimated £16.2billion-worth of mortgages was handed out in May, marking a five-month high, figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) showed. Writing on the CML’s website, CML economist Mohammad Jamei said: “As we expected, activity in the housing market is showing signs of a modest recovery.” He added that the low mortgage rates […]

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US:How Healthy Is Housing?

For reasons I have yet to fully appreciate, there is a lot of confusion about the state of residential real estate in the U.S. Simply by looking at some of the data we can clear up a lot of the muddle. The short explanation is that housing, along with the rest of the economy, has […]

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UK housing market activity sees ‘gentle rise

Mortgage experts are predicting a “gentle recovery” in activity in the UK housing market as new figures show lending rose slightly. Gross mortgage lending rose by 2% in May compared with April to £16.2bn, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). This, and economic indicators, signalled a “limited” increase in activity in the coming […]

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China property market shows further signs of stabilising

China’s property market is showing further signs of stabilising, with prices in some cities rising strongly last month as government measures to boost demand feed through. Of the 70 cities tracked by official data, 20 experienced an increase in new home prices last month, the highest level in more than a year. The average price […]

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Israel:Kahlon announces plan to lower housing prices

Finance minister focuses on deregulation, speeding up construction and disincentivizing property investment. Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon on Wednesday announced what he called the first phase in a plan for reducing Israel’s skyrocketing housing prices. He is expected to bring his initial proposals to a vote in the Housing Cabinet on Monday. In a statement, Kahlon […]