IT’S BACK!

10 NEWS THURSDAY 2 MARCH 2017
CITYAM.COM
Upswing in housebuilders’ shares as
British home loan approvals climb
Three-month low for
manufacturing sector
HELEN CAHILL
@HelCahill
HOUSEBUILDERS’ share prices rose
yesterday after figures from the Bank
of England showed January mortgage
approvals hit the highest level since
February 2016.
The Bank reported a 2.4 per cent
month-on-month rise in January,
bringing the number of mortgages to
69,928. This represented a year-onyear
fall of 3.9 per cent in mortgage
approvals, but investors were still
pleased with the news and bought up
stock in the UK’s biggest listed
housebuilders.
By the close, Persimmon’s share
price was up 4.5 per cent, Taylor
Wimpey’s share price was up 2.81 per
cent, Barratt Developments’ share
price was up 2.64 per cent and
Berkeley Group’s share price was up
two per cent.
Russ Mould, investment director at
AJ Bell, said that even if the headline
number only managed to stay level in
the coming months, this would lead
to year-on-year growth of between five
per cent and eight per cent by the
second quarter of this year.
“Shareholders in the UK
housebuilders may like to take some
reassurance from the latest bunch of
data,” he said. “This is following a
spell where changes to stamp duty
land tax added to the property
market’s fears over Brexit and
consumer confidence, despite the
creation of the Help to Buy ISA and
Lifetime ISA, both of which are
designed to help first-time buyers.”
EMMA HASLETT
GROWTH in the UK’s manufacturing
sector fell to a three-month low in
February, figures out yesterday
showed.
Markit’s manufacturing PMI fell to
54.6 in February, down from 55.9 in
January. Growth was still solid – any
number above 50 on the index
indicates growth – but the figure
nevertheless missed analysts’
expectations of 55.6.
Markit put the growth down to
“solid growth of production and new
orders during February”, pointing out
that the growth was well above the
sector’s long-term average of 51.6.
“Although rates of expansion in
output and new business lost impetus
in February, growth remained
comfortably above the long-run
averages,” said Rob Dobson, senior
economist at IHS Markit.
Analysts suggested the weak pound
had helped, driving up sales for some
manufacturers, although others are
struggling with higher input costs.
UK house price
growth slows to
just 0.6 per cent
NEW BIG CHEESE Hong Kong-based CC Land forks out £1.15bn
to buy City of London skyline staple known as the “Cheesegrater”
EMMA HASLETT
@emmahaslett
UK HOUSE price growth was flatter
than Shrove Tuesday’s pancakes in February,
with prices inching up just 0.6
per cent between January and
February.
Figures published yesterday by Nationwide
showed prices grew 4.5 per
cent in the year to February, up very
slightly from January’s 4.3 per cent.
The average price was £205,846, up
from £205,240 – that’s £606 higher.
Although predictions of post-Brexit
doom and gloom in the housing market
are fairly common these days,
Nationwide was more tempered: it said
a rise of two per cent over the course of
this year is “more likely than a
decline”.
Indeed, news of the housing market’s
death may be greatly exaggerated,
with figures from the National Association
of Estate Agents published earlier
this week suggesting there are now 11
house-hunters for every property on
the market.
“The outlook is uncertain, but we,
along with most other forecasters, expect
the UK economy to slow through
2017 as heightened uncertainty weighs
on business investment and hiring,”
said Nationwide’s chief economist,
Robert Gardner. “Consumer spending,
a key engine of growth in recent quarters,
is also likely to be impacted by rising
inflation in the months ahead as a
result of the weaker pound.”
Rob Weaver, director of investments
at property crowdfunding platfrom
Property Partner, added: “As long as
borrowing rates also continue at an
historic low level then predictions for
the year ahead are positive, although
we probably won’t be seeing London
house prices over the short-term racing
in front with dizzying double digit
rises.”
Meanwhile, stamp duty changes
rocked the central London housing
market last year as buyers became less
keen to fork out thousands of pounds
in transaction taxes for homes worth
over £1m.
Asking prices on high-end homes in
London’s most affluent boroughs were
slashed – some by as much as 30 per
cent – as home-movers sought to shift
their stock.
By January, house prices in Chelsea
had fallen by 13 per cent, and in Kensington,
prices were down by nearly 12
per cent.
BRITISH Land and Oxford Properties yesterday said they have exchanged contracts for the sale of the Leadenhall Building to CC
Land. Shareholders of the Hong Kong-based group will vote on the deal at a special general meeting and must approve of it on or
before 28 June in order for it to go ahead. Construction of the Cheesegrater started in 2011 and it was completed in 2014.
WHAT PHIL DID NEXT Online venture
backed by Sir Philip Green sees sales jump
Trade department to woo investors
at property world’s biggest bash
A DAY after paying out £363m to plug BHS’ pension hole, Green was given a little
financial relief after online “flash” sales group MySale reported a 66 per cent jump in
first-half core earnings to AU$3m (£1.8m) and a 19 per cent online revenue rise.
HELEN CAHILL
@HelCahill
THE UK government is setting up its
first ever pavilion at the property
sector’s most important trade event
to drum up international investment
ahead of Brexit.
At Mipim in Cannes thousands of
investors, developers and property
moguls will meet to do business, and
socialise on multi-million pound
yachts when the event kicks off on 14
March. The Department for
International Trade (DIT) is
partnering with the British Property
Federation (BPF), in a bid to sell
Britain as an investment destination.
A DIT spokesperson said: “As we
look to leave the EU, we will ensure
the UK continues to be a leading
destination for inward investment.”
The four-day event starts just weeks
before Prime Minister Theresa May is
due to trigger Article 50 and begin
taking the UK out of the European
Union.
Melanie Leech, chief executive of
the BPF, said: “Mipim is a timely
reminder of the UK real estate
industry’s significant contribution to
the UK economy and the way in
which our industry underpins the
delivery of many of the government’s
social objectives such as housing,
education and healthcare.”