Key Statistics: 8th May 2012

Glenigan's weekly roundup of keys statistics for the UK construction industry and the wider economy:

Construction

• The underlying value of detailed planning approvals fell by 4% over the first quarter of the year on last year, according to Glenigan data.

UK Economy

• According to the Halifax House Price Index, house prices in the three months to April were 0.3% higher than in the preceding three months. However, prices in the three months to April were 0.5% lower than in the same period a year earlier.
• The Nationwide’s House Price Index showed that average house prices in the three months to April were 0.7% lower than the previous three months.
• In the first quarter of 2012 there was a 4.3% increase in the number of compulsory liquidations and creditors’ voluntary liquidations across England and Wales on a year ago according to the Insolvency Service.
• New car sales in the UK rose to 142,322 last month, up 3.3% from April 2011, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
• The Markit eurozone composite purchasing managers' index fell to 46.7 in April from March's 49.2. Any figure below 50 suggests contraction. This is the sharpest fall since October last year, and one of the steepest contractions in almost three years.