ACTIAM Monthly

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December 2018

The pivotal event last month was the trade meeting between Trump and Xi. In the end, the parties agreed to give the negotiations more time. The good news is that no trade war will take place until 1 April 2019. The bad news is that the uncertainty remains. Slowly but surely, more signals are emerging that the US economy too will grow less than previously expected. The US housing market, for instance, is weakening. This is logical in itself, given the rapid increase in mortgage rates in the past years. If mortgage interest rates and house prices rise simultaneously, it's only a matter of time before houses become unaffordable. T