Economics

Climate change is bound to have a powerful effect on the property market in the coming years, writes James Horgan, and for investors, owners and private buyers, the time to act is now...

"The ‘once in a lifetime’ re-evaluation of housing requirements on the back of the lockdown will be a counterweight to the impact of the recession on housing market activity over the rest of 2020,"…

“Within a tumultuous five months we’ve seen the fastest and deepest collapse in architects’ confidence, followed by the strongest rally," says the RIBA.

The UK's Covid-19 lockdown caused a dramatic slump in the number of new instruction and sales agreed, reports Twenty EA, but property exchanges appear to have been more resilient.

"A full house price crash [is] a distinct possibility," warns Oxford Economics as it assesses the potential fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic on global markets.

Three scenarios for house prices and transactions volumes over the next five years have been presented by the Office for Budget Responsibility - an Upside, a Central, and a Downside.

House prices are likely to fall by 7% as a result of Covid-19, predicts Oxford Economics - but the risks are "heavily skewed" towards much, much bigger price falls of almost 40%...

"Property prices are critical to UK prosperity," writes Professor Alexander Tziamalis.

Covid-19 has created "a clear burning platform" for tax reform, which could well include a UK wealth tax, according to former Civil Service chief Gus O'Donnell.

"We can see the first green shoots of a recovery," writes James Liffen of Mishcon de Reya as he takes stock of the property sector's current situation, "but think it may be some time before the prime and…

London is an "Alpha City", declares Professor Rowland Atkinson.