John Plender
InsightA growing economy is good, but there is considerable scope for error
When I wrote my first column for Property Week early in 2010 I noted that the depreciation of sterling had turned the UK into a bargain basement for global capital.
InsightIs disaster nigh? Watch the central banks for some important clues
Equity markets have been hitting new peaks. Credit markets are overheating.
InsightCredit markets are heating up again, but the next crisis is some way off
Beware the credit cycle was one of the key lessons of the financial crisis that began with the great credit crunch in July 2007. So it is worth noting that a growing number of market analysts are beginning to worry about signs of overheating in global credit markets. Does this ...
InsightBritish are not as obsessed with home ownership as once thought
Why are the British so obsessed with home ownership? The short answer is that we are not quite as obsessed as we sometimes think.
InsightWhat will constitute a 'normal' bank rate when the economy is out of the woods?
To many real estate professionals the property business is all about land, bricks and mortar.
InsightHoles in MINTs economies send investors running to first world
For two centuries from the start of the industrial revolution, capital habitually flowed out of developed countries to the less developed parts of the world to finance infrastructure, utilities and other fixed capital investment.
InsightThe 2013 numbers are up: and show property is a class asset
Global equity investors ended 2013 $7.96 trillion richer than at the start of the year, say analysts at S&P Dow Jones Indices.
InsightTapering worries aside, property market is in good health for 2014
Global markets look set for a great start to 2014.
InsightGlobal property values are still measured by US fiscal yardstick
Whether you look at UK gilts, mortgages or commercial property, both the basis of valuation and the cost of borrowing are dictated less by financial conditions in Britain than by the yield on US treasuries.
InsightInflation isn't a problem for now, it's just been deferred
Since 2008 the balance sheet of the US Federal Reserve has risen 300% to around $4 trillion.
InsightHousing market stimulus is fuelling a recovery without substance
It is remarkable how quickly market perception can change.
InsightBad news for global growth — China’s property bubble is about to burst
China has just experienced one of the greatest property bubbles of all time. It is now at the point of bursting, which will have important consequences for the rest of the world.
InsightBond conundrum defies gravity and logic
If the twitchiness of markets over the past month carries a message, it is that investors are now hypersensitive to any potential change in the intentions of central bankers.
InsightLeave it to business to revive economy, rather than government
The longer the central banks persist in quantitative easing (QE), the more sceptical people become about the impact on the real economy.
Insight"Italy has reminded global investors that the crisis is far from over"
You have to hand it to Mark Carney, the next governor of the Bank of England.
InsightNew year rally belies persistence of eurozone financial fragility
The sudden whoosh of market optimism at the start of the year had the feel of a classic relief rally. Among other things, it indicated that the acute head-banging phase of the sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone was at an end.
InsightEuropean Union exit would be blow to UK property
Let’s think the unthinkable. What if the process of renegotiation favoured by David Cameron leads to a British exit from the European Union? And what might that mean for the British property market?
InsightLove affair with London continues to confound logic
The big investment theme of the year, at least in this country, was entirely counter-intuitive: the continuing status of the UK as a safe haven in the global marketplace, despite a deteriorating fiscal position and a lousy current account deficit.
InsightDoes property offer protection from monetary catastrophe?
Central banks to the rescue has been the overriding theme in capital markets this autumn: the US Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan and the European Central Bank have all announced further asset-purchasing programmes.
