UK House Prices and GDP Growth Trends Analysis

Housing-Market / UK Housing Sep 03, 2010 - 12:33 AM GMT

Best Financial Markets Analysis Article Whilst many methods have been utilised for determining future housing market price trends such as average earnings, mortgage interest rates, currency valuations, real terms inflation adjusted valuations, comparison against other global housing markets and real disposable earnings, this analysis seeks to add real UK housing market analysis against UK GDP growth. The assumption here is that the value of assets should over the long-run increase in inline with a countries actual economic growth rate as measured by gross domestic product.

UK GDP Growth Forecast

The December 2009 forecast for UK GDP Growth from 2010-2015 was recently updated (UK Economy GDP Growth Forecast 2010 to 2015 ) which concluded in a revised growth expectation for 2011 down from 2.3% to 1.3%. Forecasts for Years 2010, 2012, 2013, and 2014 remain unchanged and are illustrated by the below graph.

UK GDP 2010 2.8%
UK GDP 2011 = 2.3% - Revised down to 1.3%
UK GDP 2012 = 1.1%
UK GDP 2013 = 1.4%
UK GDP 2014 = 3.1%
UK GDP Mid 2015 = 3.3% - NEW

UK House Prices Valuation Against GDP Growth Trend Projection

The below graph illustrates the UK house prices trend against UK GDP Growth (Upto Q2 2010) against the Halifax Price Index for June 2010 of £166k, which results in a current reading of 37% overvaluation. The forecast trend for GDP growth as illustrated above when applied to the index shows a fall to an estimated 10% above GDP. Note this is not a forecast trend for UK house prices, but rather where the valuation index would stand against the forecast trend for the UK economy IF UK house prices STAYED at the current level. Therefore house prices rising or falling would put the actual index higher or lower than indicated.

The above graph illustrates that the UK housing market is very sentiment driven, and in many ways exhibits the same sort of behaviour as that of stock market by moving between extremes of over valuation and under valuation against the UK 's GDP growth trend.

The current state of the UK housing market is state of 37% over valuation against GDP, down from an extreme reading of more than 60%, so still far from reaching a bottoming state associated with 0% and below. However against this if year on year economic growth materialises as forecast, then even if UK house prices did not change from the current levels then UK house prices will have trended towards a state of normalisation against GDP to an estimated reading of 10%. This is inline with my long standing expectations for the UK housing market to have entered a period of depression after the initial crash. However should the UK economy dip back into recession then contracting GDP would require UK house prices to trend significantly lower again, similarly should the UK economy perform more strongly than forecast, then that would provide a lift to UK house prices, so it will be important to track the trend in actual GDP against forecast GDP for relative strength or weakness indication for future house prices trend.

Conclusion - GDP Growth trend analysis points to a continuing depression in the UK housing market for the next 3-4 years, with the most probable outcome being for a gradual shallow drift lower in prices over the next 1-2 years (6-12%), followed by a further 1-2 years of base building.

UK House Price Forecast

This analysis is part of an on going series that will culminate in a multi-year UK house prices trend forecast (Free Ebook) that will seek to more than replicate the original 2 year bear market forecast of August 2007 made right at the very peak of the UK housing market (22 Aug 2007 - UK Housing Market Crash of 2007 - 2008 and Steps to Protect Your Wealth ), which also builds up on the 100 page Inflation Mega-Trend Ebook of Jan 2010 (Free Download Now), which contained the following UK housing market analysis (updated graph):

UK Housing Bear Market Election Bounce

The UK housing market peaked in August 2007 and entered into a 2 year bear market exactly as forecast at the time (22 Aug 2007 - UK Housing Market Crash of 2007 - 2008 and Steps to Protect Your Wealth ), analysis which projected towards a fall in UK house prices from August 2007 to August 2009 of between 15% and 25% that has subsequently came to pass as UK house prices bottomed in March 2009 after having fallen by 23% from the 2007 peak.

The UK housing bear market has experienced a strong bounce off of the March 2009 lows and now stands up approx 10% off of the low as a consequence of unprecedented measures as mentioned in this ebook, the Labour government has succeeded in temporarily bringing UK house price falls to a halt and triggering an Election Bounce.

The impact of the inflation mega-trend on the UK housing market will be for UK house price to be supported in nominal terms, however this it does NOT ignite the feel good factor that triggers housing market booms which only follow when house prices begin to significantly rise in REAL terms i.e. after inflation.

UK house Prices Forecast 2007 to 2010

Whilst the current corrective bounce looks set continue into the middle of 2010 (allowing for a potential one month blip as a consequence of the bad January weather), this rally is still seen as a correction within a housing bear market that is expected to remain in a depression for many years, before house prices succumb to the effect of the inflation mega-trend and start to rise.

Ensure you are subscribed to my always free newsletter to receive key in depth analysis on the UK housing market, economy and markets in your email in box on an ongoing basis.

Comments and Source : http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article22397.html

By Nadeem Walayat

http://www.marketoracle.co.uk

Nadeem Walayat has over 20 years experience of trading derivatives, portfolio management and analysing the financial markets, including one of few who both anticipated and Beat the 1987 Crash. Nadeem's forward looking analysis specialises on UK inflation, economy, interest rates and the housing market and he is the author of the NEW Inflation Mega-Trend ebook that can be downloaded for Free. Nadeem is the Editor of The Market Oracle, a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. We present in-depth analysis from over 500 experienced analysts on a range of views of the probable direction of the financial markets. Thus enabling our readers to arrive at an informed opinion on future market direction. http://www.marketoracle.co.uk

Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any trading losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors before engaging in any trading activities.

Nadeem Walayat Archive

Comments

Simon B 03 Sep 10, 02:32	Natural Gas Hi Nadeem Thanks for all your work. Look forward to the UK house price trend forcast. Just wanted to ask about natural gas. In the inflation mega trend and other articles you talked of an ineviatble spike upwards at some point. Do you still hold this view in light of recent fall in natural gas prices? Thanks Simon B
Nadeem_Walayat 03 Sep 10, 04:53	Natural Gas Investing Hi I expect Natural gas to eventually spike higher, though it could be several years. However I did make it clear to avoid the Natural Gas ETF's such as UNG which I consider a SCAM. Instead I mentioned several Natural gas dividend paying stocks as alternatives to exposure to the nat gas price which I declared as being invested in, namely Centrica - Up 22% British Gas - Down 5%
Paul 03 Sep 10, 22:31	the ebook which never arrived Nadeem I know you're busy busy busy but..... once upon a day you did promise an e-book/guide to the inner workings of your day to day/week to week trading methodology. Where? Best Paul
Nadeem_Walayat 04 Sep 10, 02:32	trading Hi Paul It remains my intention to write a book on trading, but my focus is on time critical analysis, realsitically I would say the trading book is about 12 to 18 months away. My current project is an ebook on the uk housing market. All the best. Nadeem Walayat,
Brian Leader 10 Sep 10, 10:40	Australian House Price Forecast Nadeem, Have you (or are you intending to) forecast Australian house prices as you have done with UK house prices? Cheers, Brian
Nadeem_Walayat 10 Sep 10, 19:49	Australian house prices Hi It would take at least 20 pieces of analysis to come to a firm conclusion. I just don't have the time. Best NW

Only logged in users are allowed to post comments. Register/ Log in

The Market Oracle is a FREE Financial Markets Forecasting & Analysis web-site.
(c) 2005-2024 MarketOracle.co.uk (Market Oracle Ltd) - Market Oracle Ltd asserts copyright on all articles authored by our editorial team and all comments posted. Any and all information provided within the web-site, is for general information purposes only and Market Oracle Ltd do not warrant the accuracy, timeliness or suitability of any information provided on this site. nor is or shall be deemed to constitute, financial or any other advice or recommendation by us. and are also not meant to be investment advice or solicitation or recommendation to establish market positions. We do not give investment advice and our comments are an expression of opinion only and should not be construed in any manner whatsoever as recommendations to enter into a market position either stock, option, futures contract, bonds, commodity or any other financial instrument at any time. We recommend that independent professional advice is obtained before you make any investment or trading decisions. By using this site you agree to this sites Terms of Use. From time to time we promote or endorse certain products / services that we believe are worthy of your time and attention. In return for that endorsement and only in the cases where you purchase directly though us may we be compensated by the producers of those products.