"Sadly, the improvements in mortgage availability, prices and sales have not been spread evenly"
- David Brown, commercial director of LSL
Britain's leading indicator improved for the second straight month in February, pointing at the modest recovery and suggesting the U.K. will avoid from falling into a triple-dip recession. The leading economic index, which was designed to predict the direction of the economy, increased 0.4% month-on-month to 102.4 in February, after a modest 0.2% increase in the previous month, the Conference Board showed Friday.
Also Friday, the Acadametrics Ltd said that Britain's home prices reached a five-year high last month, while London's property market powered a seventh month of increases. The median cost of a home in England and Wales advanced by 0.2% and reached 230,078 pounds ($354,000). Friday's report is reflecting the improvement in the access to mortgages, as the BoE's lending programme boosted lending last summer.
"Sadly, the improvements in mortgage availability, prices and sales have not been spread evenly," said David Brown, commercial director of LSL. "The market in the Southeast, particularly London, is going great guns, but less affluent areas are struggling."
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