The Current Conditions component of the Index of Consumer Sentiment is one of the better indicators of consumer spending. It is suggesting that consumers feel wealthier and better off in general today than they have in many years…If they begin to increase their spending more rapidly, it will boost the entire US and global economy.
In a generally good first quarter for Europe, we saw better economic and financial market news and much improved confidence which started to produce a change in strategy, with parts of the investment community going “risk-on”. However, starting with Italy’s indecisive election and moving on to the Cypriot “bank sweep”, confidence has been dented in [...]
The third quarter of 2012 was not great for the European office sector with leasing and investment activity down and rental growth reversing. However anyone expecting a smooth, demand-driven recovery was pretty much waiting to be disappointed – the road back to any sort of normality was always going to be bumpy and unpredictable. Looking [...]
Can a silver lining be found within the sputtering U.S. economy? After showing tepid positive momentum, growing at an annual rate of 2.5% in the second half of 2011 and 1.9% in the first quarter, the U.S. economy has waned. Now added to the uncertainty of the European debt crisis and anemic U.S. job growth [...]
Forget Spain for now, events in Greece over the next few days will be setting the tone for Europe for better or for worse. Greek voters go back to the polls on Sunday and clearly face a tough choice, caught between a rock and a hard place. Surveys have suggested growing support for pro-bailout parties [...]
After a cold and wet start, the sun came out at MIPIM to light-up the launch of our International Investment Atlas last week. The Atlas looks at 2012 trends but also reviews the year gone by and as we commented, the raw statistics on 2011 make it look like a pretty good year – global [...]
The US Labor Department reported this morning that the economy added 243,000 payroll jobs in January, the largest increase in employment since last April. In the private sector payrolls increased by 257,000, bringing total private sector employment growth over the last six months to 1.06 million persons. The unemployment rate declined to 8.3% from 8.5% [...]
Occupier and investor activity in the global property market largely held up in the third quarter – but what are we likely to see in the next few months? Sentiment has certainly become more cautious, which is hardly surprising given the volatility of financial markets and the uncertainty most of us are feeling over the [...]
So as the dust settles on another MIPIM, what messages did it send out? On the whole, I would say positive ones. Attendances were up 5-10%, (despite a couple of high profile no-shows!) and the mood more upbeat, with even Dr Nouriel Roubini finding some “upside risks” to discuss in his keynote speech on the [...]
The phrase “double dip” has become a thing of the past as the economy has accelerated. Today forecasts for 2011 are being revised upward. Stronger growth will boost commercial real estate in the coming year.