HONG KONG, Sept. 19 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- The August Residential Mortgage Survey in Hong Kong is due to release towards the end of the week. This is likely to show a continuation of the emerging trend towards a diminishing number of loan approvals. This series actually peaked back in January when close to 14,000 new mortgages were granted. Subsequently the number of loans approved has dropped to less than 10,000. in value terms, there was a 16% fall in loans issued between June and July.
US house prices not yet at the bottom
The dramatic change in the landscape of Wall Street over the past week has completely overshadowed the flow of economic news but the beleaguered state of the US housing market still remains central to the unfolding story. Existing and new homes sales data for August, due to release on Wednesday 24th and Thursday 25th respectively, could conceivably bring better news.
Challenges ahead for UK housing market activity
The latest snapshot of housing market activity in the UK is due from the British Bankers Association on Tuesday 23rd with the release of their August mortgage approvals number. There have been tentative signs recently that housing market activity may be nearing a floor. The RICS new buyer enquiries and the newly agreed sales balances have both markedly improved from their April lows, as have sales expectations (but they are still negative overall).
French building starts likely to fall further
French data on building permits and starts for August, as well as business and consumer confidence for September, is due on the week beginning 22nd.
Please download from the following for the complete report content:
http://www.creativegp.com/belinda/RICSGlobalRealEstateWeekly-Sept19.pdf .
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