Helen Nugent

Housing hyperbole: what’s next for house prices

Without wishing to add to the hyperbole over Brexit (from both sides), it’s fair to say that Britain is all over the place today. From the temporary suspension of trading in Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays shares and sterling’s continued slide against the dollar, to the slump in the return on government bonds and a profit warning from easyJet, the UK is beginning to digest its decision to leave the European Union.

In the morass of doom and gloom was another profit warning, this time from Foxtons. The estate agent said concerns following the vote will depress London property sales and, in the first few minutes of trading, shares in the company dropped 18 per cent. By 11.45am they had plummeted by 22 per cent.

At the time of writing, the big property developers were down sharply again on the FTSE 100. Taylor Wimpey shares fell 16 per cent by 11.30am while Barratt Developments and Travis Perkins both fell 13 per cent.

Tempted to crawl back under the duvet until, oh, Christmas? Before you do, consider this small sliver of hope from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), which represents lenders in the UK.

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