U.K. RICS housing survey for August showed that 6 percent of surveyors recorded an increase in house prices in the last three months, up from 1 percent a month earlier. But, the headline figure hid very notable regional disparities, with the net balance for London coming in at -56 percent, hinting the biggest fall in prices in the capital since 2009, while regions further away posted healthy price rises. On balance, surveyors continued to record a decline in both buyer enquiry and new selling instructions, although the index for the latter rose to the least negative in eighteen months.
In the meantime, near-term price expectations stayed widely stable, with a net 2 percent of respondents envisaging price declines in the next three months from July’s 0 percent. The figures seem to be slightly at odds with the official U.K. house price index, which despite significantly weaker economic backdrop in the first half of the year, continues to record growth of around 5 percent year-on-year.
At 19:00 GMT the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of British Pound was highly bullish at 110.708, while the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of US Dollar was bullish at 95.3202. For more details on FxWirePro's Currency Strength Index, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex
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