HONG KONG, April 25 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ --
Further policy tightening possible from the Indian central bank
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) meets on Tuesday 29th with speculation mounting that it may take this opportunity to push up the repo rate by a further 25 basis points to 8%. Growth in bank lending has moderated, however still running at a healthy rate of more than 20% y/y.
No relief in sight for real estate woes in the US
The coming week sees the release of a raft of significant data for the US real estate sector including housing vacancy figures on Monday 28th, the February Case-Shiller numbers on Tuesday 29th and reports on construction spending on Thursday 1st and employment on Friday 2nd.March construction spending will reflect the ongoing weakness not just in residential but also commercial property. A sixth successive monthly decline is probable despite a positive contribution from the public sector.
UK house building weakness to depress construction sentiment
Mortgage approvals data for March is due from the Bank of England on Tuesday 29th. An initial estimate of the level of activity by the British Bankers Association, whose members account for around two-thirds of mortgage lending, points to a drop in approvals during the month.
The CIPS survey of the construction sector, which is out on Friday 2nd, could also make for interesting reading. The Bank of England's latest report from its agents makes clear, the key driver of this weakness is private sector house building. For the time being, non-residential work is keeping the level of activity relatively high.
Activity in Spanish housing market to weaken further
Data on the Spanish housing market is due to be published by the INE on Monday 28th. Housing markets across the euro area are generally facing a slowdown. However, there are a number of structural features particular to the Spanish market that are making conditions more difficult. On the demand side, around 98% of new mortgages are variable, in contract to the euro area average of 51%. As a result, the Spanish housing market was always going to be more sensitive to changes in ECB rates than most.
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