When faced with the unpredictability that life brings, it is comforting to have the support of protection cover.
Increased household bills, mortgage and rent costs, mean that protection is more important than ever right now but, in response to these challenging conditions, some households are considering reducing their level of protection – leaving themselves vulnerable to financial shocks.
Conditions remain challenging
Demand down but activity remains robust
RICS survey shows demand falling
Activity in the housing and mortgage markets is hotting up – and cooling down. According to the latest Residential Market Survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, a run of thirteen successive negative monthly readings for new instructions ended in May, marking the strongest reading for new listings since March 20211. Yet house prices are still predicted to fall in the second half of the year.
In a housing downturn, not all cities and towns are equal. New research1 has highlighted which areas of the UK are the most resilient in the face of falling prices.
Homeowners are delaying improvements to the sustainability of their homes, according to the latest ‘Greener Homes Attitude Tracker’ from Natwest1, as cost-of-living difficulties remain.
Mixed signals in mortgage and housing markets
Inflation hasn’t been falling as quickly as anticipated, resulting in the Bank of England coming under pressure to raise Bank Rate again in May. While lenders had priced in some interest rate rises in advance, the market reaction to inflation data released in May suggests that tolerance had been exceeded and mortgage rates reversed their downward trend.
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