Global house prices rise

Mortgage approvals in Britain rose in May to their highest level since March last year, according to data yesterday from the British Bankers’ Association.

Meanwhile, home prices in Australia are shooting up. Approvals for house purchase rose to 42,530 from 42,020 in April, up around 4% compared with a year ago, the association said.

“The numbers show that the property market remains buoyant after the general election,” said Richard Woolhouse, chief economist at the association.

“Personal borrowing by British families also seems to be strong. The uptake of personal loans and credit card borrowing is further proof of consumers’ confidence,” it said.

The association data are generally a good guide to trends in more comprehensive Bank of England lending figures due next week, but do not include lending by mutually owned building societies, which accounts for almost a third of mortgages.

The latest Bank of England data showed mortgage approvals jumped by the most in more than six years in April.

Meanwhile, Australian house prices have risen for the 10th straight quarter led by another outsized gain in Sydney, adding to concerns about an overheating market and diminishing affordability in the city.

Figures published this week from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed prices across all the major cities rose 1.6% in the three months to March, lifting annual growth to 6.9%.

The heat was again very much concentrated in Sydney where prices were up over 13%, and that was before the Reserve Bank of Australia cut interest rates to a new low of 2% in May.

More timely data from the housing industry had hinted at a cooling down over the last month or so, partly due to the onset of winter.

Yet the latest survey from property consultant CoreLogic RP Data found a sudden rebound last week.

Average values across the state capitals rose 1%, from the previous week, with Sydney alone up 1.6% and Melbourne by 1.4%.

Annual growth in prices picked up to 9.1% nationally and a frothy 15% in Sydney.

Demand was also strong with almost 84% of home auctions in Sydney proving successful, and 79% in Melbourne.

• Reuters