What’s Going On Here?Data out on Monday showed that UK house prices continued to rise in October. What Does This Mean?Economists are expecting higher interest rates – and, in turn, bumper mortgage payments – to put rising house prices on ice, but that hasn’t happened just yet. See, snowballing rates actually meant soon-to-be homeowners rushed to put pen to paper before their cheaper mortgage rates expired, which might explain why the average UK asking price rose 0.9% from September to October – the fastest rise in five months. And in fairness, much of that was down to swelling price tags for London’s most expensive homes, while houses lower down the ladder stayed pretty stable. Plus, given that the number of enquiries from new buyers dropped by nearly a fifth over the last few weeks, the market might finally be about to take a breather. Why Should I Care?The bigger picture: Just you wait…
House prices look destined to fall eventually, as mortgage payments are only getting pricier while inflation helps itself to the contents of the country's wallets. And that’s unlikely to let up anytime soon: survey results from Monday showed economists expect double-digit inflation to stick around until the end of the year, with interest rates predicted to almost double to reach 4.25% by early next year.
Zooming out: If you don’t like my principles, I have others.
The UK government announced a controversial package of tax cuts last month, and markets reacted almost as badly as everyday Brits did. So as any unassailable government would do, it quickly scrambled to undo the damage by saying on Monday that it would do away with the majority of the plans. The latest of many flip-flops will mean less government borrowing and fewer inflation-stoking policies, and investors were all for it: the pound jumped to $1.14, and bonds – which have been at the center of the pension crisis – boasted their own long-awaited rally. | 