« "Monetarism" suggests further inflation rise, modest relief in 2012 | Main | Expensive Treasuries at risk from rising corporate credit demand »

Has UK consumer confidence bottomed?

Posted on Wednesday, April 20, 2011 at 12:29PM by Registered CommenterSimon Ward | CommentsPost a Comment

The suggestion in a previous post that the housing market would remain resilient in early 2011 is supported by the National Association of Estate Agents' March survey, showing the average number of house-hunters registered per branch rising to an eight-month high. This builds on a solid February gain and may presage a recovery in mortgage approvals for house purchase – see first chart.

House-hunting is an early barometer of consumer spirits; the NAEA measure turned down from late 2009 ahead of a decline in the EU Commission consumer confidence indicator – second chart. The February / March pick-up suggests that an improving labour market is starting to outweigh high inflation and fiscal tightening and could herald a recovery in confidence. The stock market may be sniffing this scenario, judging from recent better performance of retail shares.

PrintView Printer Friendly Version

EmailEmail Article to Friend

Reader Comments

There are no comments for this journal entry. To create a new comment, use the form below.

PostPost a New Comment

Enter your information below to add a new comment.
Author Email (optional):
Author URL (optional):
Post:
 
Some HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>