Thanks for joining us today. An improving mortgage market has given house sellers the confidence to demand an extra £5,000 for their home on average this month compared to February.
Rightmove said the value of newly marketed house has risen by 1.5pc to £368,118.
5 things to start your day
1) Migration surge drives London population to new record | Concerns over housing intensify as capital surpasses pre-pandemic peak
2) Hunt hits landlords with stealth capital gains tax raid | Previous reduction in tax-free allowance offsets gains from lowered rate
3) ITV cuts jobs amid advertising slump | Broadcaster faces biggest slump in advertising since financial crisis
4) British Airways to use robot baggage handlers at Gatwick | Driverless baggage tugs to be rolled out as industry battles staff shortages
5) Why Britain’s four-day week pioneer says he will never go back | Boss of UK challenger bank Atom believes office purists need to ‘grow up’
What happened overnight
Asian stocks advanced ahead of policy decisions this week by the Bank of England, Japan’s central bank and the US Federal Reserve.
Chinese data for January-February were mixed, with property investment falling while other indicators showed improvement.
In Tokyo, shares closed sharply higher as investors await a decision by the Bank of Japan on Tuesday on whether to raise its benchmark interest rate for the first time in 17 years. Since 2016, the rate has remained at minus 0.1pc.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index jumped 2.7pc, or 1,032.80 points, to 39,740.44, while the broader Topix index climbed 1.9pc, or 51.19 points, to end at 2,721.99.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong was flat at 16,720.40, and the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.5pc to 3,069.67.
Elsewhere, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was unchanged at 7,670.60, while the Kospi in South Korea advanced 0.6pc, to 2,681.26.
In India, the Sensex was unchanged and in Bangkok the SET was up 0.5pc.
