Your Monday Update
Prime homes lead the UK housing rebound
3 minutes to read
Vaccines and treatments
Shares across Asia jumped overnight following newspaper reports outlining the Trump administration’s plans to speed up the development and distribution of a Covid-19 treatment and a vaccine.
The administration said yesterday it will expand the use of an experimental treatment for that involves blood plasma donated by people who’ve recovered from the virus. The FT later reported the president is also considering bypassing normal US regulatory standards to fast-track a vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University in order to make it available to Americans ahead of the election.
European flare ups
Asia has now surpassed North America as the largest source of new Covid-19 cases, though some European countries are undergoing flare ups, led by Spain and France.
France is now mandating masks in all workplaces and travellers from the UK will be required to self certify they do not have symptoms. Italy, which has been hailed by US officials in recent days for its handling of its outbreak, is also showing early signs of a resurgence.
Tracking the UK housing rebound
We continue to monitor the UK's post-lockdown housing market, with the latest data suggesting that the momentum in activity seen in the early summer is being maintained. Oliver Knight's analysis of sales data from Rightmove during the week ending August 16th shows a 61% jump compared with the same week the previous year.
The biggest increase in deals agreed since the end of lockdown has taken place in the prime market, mirroring the pattern seen after the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. The number of properties with sales agreed above £1 million was 100% higher than the same week in 2019, our analysis shows, whilst for properties valued between £750,000 and £1 million the jump was an even larger 119%.
The housing trends going global
The UK's housing market rebound, plus many of the factors underpinning it, are being mirrored in other global housing markets.
Sales of previously owned homes in the US surged to their highest level in more than 13 years in July, prompted by ultra-low mortgage rates and demand for larger homes. Bloomberg has this deep dive on the "suburban buying frenzy, driven by urban exiles hunting for home offices and space to quarantine in comfort."
The US is also leading a global boom in housing renovations that has fuelled a 104% surge in lumber prices this year.
Mortgages, planning reform and floating solar panels
In a new Intelligence Talks podcast, Anna Ward is joined by research consultant Patrick Gower to discuss the latest on mortgage holiday adoption rates, interest rates and how lenders are responding to the crisis, plus later life finance expert David Forsdkye explains how older generations can help first time buyers. Listen on Spotify, Acast or Apple.
Meanwhile Andrew Shirley's rural update explores the government's controversial bid to reform planning and discovers how renewable energy could still make sense for rural landowners.
In other news...
The US recession is likely to end late 2020 or 2021; and tougher EU climate target technically and economically feasible, researchers say.