RICS Global RE Weekly: Japanese Housing Starts Holding Up Following Earthquake

HONG KONG, June 24, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- A raft of data is due for release in Japan over the coming week including, most notably for the real estate sector, housing starts and construction orders on Thursday 30th and the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) quarterly Tankan on Friday 1st July. The former numbers are likely to be particularly closely watched for further signs that the building industry is shrugging off the impact of the earthquake, which took place on March 11th and, indeed, some initial indications that it is beginning to benefit from the rebuilding effort. On a year on year comparison, housing starts were actually just in positive territory in April after a negative reading in March; significantly, the level of new starts is currently little different from where they were in the early part of 2009.

Singapore house prices to show further signs of slowing

Singapore house prices are released next week as the Urban Redevelopment Board (URA) publishes the residential property index flash estimate for Q2. Released on Friday 1st, the data will be closely watched by policy makers at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), as they ponder whether or not further cooling measures are warranted for the exuberant housing market. The flash estimate is primarily based on data from the first 10 weeks of the quarter and while it is likely to be revised at a later date, it is usually an accurate estimate of activity over the quarter.

Euro area mortgage lending outlook is weakening

Euro area M3 lending data for May is due from the ECB on Thursday 30th. M3 lending was unchanged in April, but the annual growth rate edged down from 2.3% to 2% due to base effects. One of the key components of the M3 release is lending (outstanding) for home purchase, which accounts for 21% of total lending in the euro area (EA). The headline figure increased by 0.3% in April, pushing the annual growth rate up to 5.1%, the highest since May 2008 but below the long run average of 7.7% (since January 2000).

Brazilian credit growth in the spotlight

The coming week sees the release of the Central Bank of Brazil's (BCB) credit report for May. Amid speculation of a potential credit bubble forming in the Brazilian economy, the forthcoming report will be highly anticipated. Indeed, last month's report showed a continued surge in credit expansion, with overall credit expanding 1.3% on the month and 21% annual growth.

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