Economics

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.

The coronavirus has exposed an underlying weakness within the world economy, and it will be several weeks before we find out the impact on the market, writes James Wyatt...

Charlie Ellingworth and the Property Vision team take a measured look at what the Covid-19 recovery could look like for the UK's economy and real estate sector.

Mayfair-based boutique agency to provide regular updates on the UK resi market as part of the bank's Decision Maker Panel, set up in 2016 to help shape post-Brexit economic policy

"Low-hanging" wealth & property taxes could rise to cover Covid-19 costs, suggests a political economist Professor Richard Murphy.