After seven months of downward trajectory, house prices rose in April for the first time since last August, up 0.5% to £260,441, according to mortgage lender Nationwide.
Great news for homeowners, (and for consumer confidence generally) but it has left economists – who were expecting prices to slip by a further 0.4% – scratching their heads. Property prices are still around 2.7% lower, on average, than they were in 2022 and this sudden upturn has messed up everyone’s carefully plotted charts.
The economists, however, are sticking to their guns. “It’s probably just a blip away from its downward trend,” says one chief economist, “one month does not make a trend” explains another.
A cheerful bunch.
That word ‘blip’ also crops in the latest Business Pilot Barometer, which has revealed average window and door sales were down 7% in April, with leads down 9%.
After such a resilient start to the year, has the retail sector finally started to cave in? Unlike the pessimistic economists, Business Pilot’s Neil Cooper-Smith, reminds us that a bigger ‘blip’ also occurred 12 months ago, (sales down 13% and leads down 20%), so there’s no need to panic just yet.
He also highlights that despite ongoing high inflation and the cost of living crisis, consumer confidence is up and reminds us that there are plenty of older, mortgage free homeowners who have cash to spare.
Against a backdrop of energy bills, which will remain high for some time, the long-term outlook for the industry is still relatively positive as households look to invest in products that deliver improved energy efficiency.
It’s been said before, but energy efficiency remains a key driver for sales going forward and partnering with a supplier of windows, doors and conservatories that can deliver style as well as help lower energy bills is a must.
A good example is included in this week’s newsletter, courtesy of aluminium system company, Aluprof, which has just launched a new 70mm system, capable of producing U values as low as 0.72.
For more details, click here.
Ignore the blip, look to the long term
After seven months of downward trajectory, house prices rose in April for the first time since last August, up 0.5% to £260,441, according to mortgage lender Nationwide.
Great news for homeowners, (and for consumer confidence generally) but it has left economists – who were expecting prices to slip by a further 0.4% – scratching their heads. Property prices are still around 2.7% lower, on average, than they were in 2022 and this sudden upturn has messed up everyone’s carefully plotted charts.
The economists, however, are sticking to their guns. “It’s probably just a blip away from its downward trend,” says one chief economist, “one month does not make a trend” explains another.
A cheerful bunch.
That word ‘blip’ also crops in the latest Business Pilot Barometer, which has revealed average window and door sales were down 7% in April, with leads down 9%.
After such a resilient start to the year, has the retail sector finally started to cave in? Unlike the pessimistic economists, Business Pilot’s Neil Cooper-Smith, reminds us that a bigger ‘blip’ also occurred 12 months ago, (sales down 13% and leads down 20%), so there’s no need to panic just yet.
He also highlights that despite ongoing high inflation and the cost of living crisis, consumer confidence is up and reminds us that there are plenty of older, mortgage free homeowners who have cash to spare.
Against a backdrop of energy bills, which will remain high for some time, the long-term outlook for the industry is still relatively positive as households look to invest in products that deliver improved energy efficiency.
It’s been said before, but energy efficiency remains a key driver for sales going forward and partnering with a supplier of windows, doors and conservatories that can deliver style as well as help lower energy bills is a must.
A good example is included in this week’s newsletter, courtesy of aluminium system company, Aluprof, which has just launched a new 70mm system, capable of producing U values as low as 0.72.
For more details, click here.
Glass Times
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