Trio of surveys point to strengthening economy

By Christina Fincher and Mark Anderson

LONDON (Reuters) - Optimism about Britain's recovery outlook grew on Tuesday as a trio of surveys flagged rising house prices, improved business confidence and steady growth in retail sales.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' house price balance jumped to +21 in June from +5 in May - the best reading since January 2010 and the biggest improvement in a single month since 2009.

A survey from Deloitte showed Britain's top firms are more willing to expand than at any point over the past two years, while the British Retail Consortium reported healthy growth in sales last month.

The Bank of England indicated last week it wanted monetary conditions to remain stimulative, mindful that higher bond yields could still snuff out Britain's burgeoning recovery. But it does appear Mark Carney has taken the helm of the central bank just as the economy is picking up.

"It is particularly encouraging to see the move towards growth among UK-facing companies," said Deloitte's chief economist Ian Stewart. "These companies have been consistently more defensive than their international-facing peers in the last two years."

The Deloitte survey showed that expectations for hiring and investment were at a two-year high, with a quarter of the chief financial officers polled saying they had shifted their focus from cutting costs to expansion.

Willingness to accept risks on investments was registered at its highest level since the poll began in 2007.

HOUSING MARKET HEATS UP

The RICS survey showed a net balance of 45 percent of surveyors expect home sales to rise over the coming three months, up from 36 percent in May and the highest reading since the survey began more than a decade ago.

In another sign that market confidence is returning, new buyer enquiries rose for a sixth consecutive month and at a pace not seen since August 2009.

The survey chimes with data from mortgage lenders Halifax and Nationwide in suggesting the government's Funding for Lending and Help to Buy schemes are breathing new life into the market.

The Funding for Lending scheme, run jointly with the Bank, provides banks and building societies with cheap finance if they lend to households and businesses, while the Help to Buy scheme offers government guarantees to help riskier borrowers onto the housing ladder.

"After what has seemed like a very long wait we are finally starting to see what looks like the beginning of a recovery in the housing market," said Peter Bolton King, RICS global residential director.

A separate survey showed British retail sales grew in June, boosted by purchases of clothes and shoes as warmer weather tempted shoppers onto the high street.

In Britain, two-thirds of households own their homes and rising house prices have typically gone hand-in-hand with rising consumer spending.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/trio-surveys-point-strengthening-economy-001450073.html

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