Housing 'bottoming' positive for UK economy - Woolnough

Investors should have increasing confidence in a UK economic recovery as the housing market shows strong signs of bottoming, Richard Woolnough believes.

The £4.27bn M&G Corporate Bond fund manager says while mortgage approvals and first home buyers remain muted, the market can still stabilise in the absence of the leveraged consumer. "The consensus view seems to be that demand/supply ratios have lost their relevance because the volume of transactions is low," Woolnough says. "We differ - to make a market you have to focus on supply and demand, and this lack of supply is fundamental and reflects the cheapness of housing on a serviceability basis. "The UK housing market has traditionally been driven by first time buyers, as reflected...