The Bank of England's Agents' summary of business conditions is usually an excellent insight into the state of the UK economy. The report is a summary of the monthly reports put together by the Bank's agents around the country after discussions with some 700 businesses.

What it does is provide a sweeping sense of what is happening behind the bald stats - a great help to property investors.

Today's published summary covering the period late March to late April reveals:

The pace of contraction in consumer spending had eased.

The pickup in housing market activity had continued -- albeit from a low base.
Investment intentions remained very weak.

Manufacturing export volumes had shrunk further, as the slowdown in global demand outweighed any gains to competitiveness arising from sterling's depreciation.

De-stocking had continued throughout 2009, but recent reports suggested that the pace of de-stocking may have eased over the past month.

Business services turnover remained significantly lower than the same period a year earlier.
Construction activity had continued to contract sharply.

While credit conditions remained tight, some contacts felt that the major British banks' appetite for lending had increased a little.

Labour demand had continued to shrink and employment intentions remained weak. Cuts in average hours, lower bonuses and commissions, and low pay settlements had continued to reduce per capita labour costs.

On average, there had been little change in the rate of inflation in materials prices. Weak demand conditions had continued to press down on suppliers' margins.

Consumer goods price inflation remained positive but modest, as promotional activity and falls in domestic energy prices pushed against the impact of rising import prices.

Pretty much the same mix of tentative positives but some serious negatives we've seen elsewhere. What emerges though is of a property market perhaps getting ahead of itself in relation to the economic fundamentals - low investment, low orders, tight exports and rising unemployment.

Still, glimmers of hope even so...