Despite being recognised as the largest recipient of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) reaching USD 147 billion in 2016 Q4, shortly after (Q1 2017) the United Kingdom experienced 3% decrease, according to OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). Whilst still remaining above 2013 and 2014 levels, this insinuated that the investor interest has declined. However, as seen in the past, this creates a great opportunity for those building long-term plans.
Although the property prices dropped during the time of uncertainty caused by Brexit, they are steadily increasing since Q4 2017. The latest data published by HM Land Registry and Office for National Statistics (ONS), leads us to think that we can expect the prices to rise even further. More specifically, Capital Economics expect house prices to grow by 2pc this year.
Furthermore, the CBI (Confederation of British Industry's) Business Optimism index in the UK jumped to 13 exceeding Australia, Spain and Euro Area. Overall, this shows positive sentiment of the respondents towards the general and export business situation, investment, capacity, order books, employment, output, stocks, prices competitiveness regarding domestic, EU and non-EU markets and innovation and training.
Whilst we may be having a bumpy ride, the roads seem to be smoothening out for investors in 2018. The confidence has been growing and will continue to grow this year. Arguably, once we will have more clarity about the steps UK will take in 2020, we will notice more rapid increase in investors trust.
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