City AM – House Price Boom Builds Momentum
The London business paper CITY AM reports London property prices have leapt in March.
House prices reach highest level in 10 months in March
Green shoots continue to emerge in the property market as March has welcomed the highest rise in house prices in 10 months.
According to a report by Rightmove, the average price of newly marketed properties rose by £5,279 this month to £368k.
The figure trumped the average March increase of 1.0 per cent and is the biggest leap in 10 months.
The number of sales being agreed is now 13 per cent higher than at this time last year and buyer demand is now eight per cent higher than the year before.
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Bank of England to cut interest rates in June, economists forecast
The Bank of England is set to start cutting interest rates in June, according to a City A.M. poll of top economists, as inflation nears its target, the labour market cools and the UK takes its first steps out of recession.
The majority (61 per cent) of the 23 economists surveyed thought the Bank would start cutting rates in June, narrowing their bets since last month’s survey.
Just nine per cent believed rate cuts would begin in May, compared with 43 per cent last month, while around a quarter (26 per cent) chose August.
Just under half of the economists (48 per cent) expected the bank would cut rates three times in 2024, with some placing more optimistic bets for four (30 per cent) and five cuts (nine per cent).
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Manchester Airport could add £16.3bn per year to UK economy by 2050, report shows
Regional political and business leaders have backed a report showing how further investment and government support for Manchester Airport could nearly triple its contribution to the UK economy and support 85,000 new jobs by 2050.
The report from engineering consultant Arup, which modelled four scenarios for the Northern economy with different levels of policy support and growth, found the airport could secure direct flights to 50 new cities including Sydney, Tokyo, Montreal, Mumbai, Riyadh, San Francisco and Cape Town.
It added that 25 new short-haul routes could also be unlocked, with total passenger volumes rising to as high as 60m per year – compared with their current level of 27m.
The report showed the airport’s gross value added to the UK economy could rise to £16.3bn from £5.7bn and the number of jobs it supports to 165,000 from 80,000.
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Britain to trial ‘flying taxis’ by 2026 and explore possible £45bn boost to economy with new drone tech
The first electric flying taxis in Britain will be trialled in 2026 and could come into wider use by the end of the decade, the government has said.
The Future of Flight action, published on Monday, outlines a roadmap to bringing “technology once confined to the realms of sci-fi” to UK skies.
Following trials in 2026, the first piloted flying taxi flight will come into regular service by 2028. By 2030, demos of pilot-less flying taxis will begin.
So-called ‘vertiports,’ mini airports for drones and electric aircraft which take off vertically, will be built in the UK to serve as hubs for the new technology.
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