A bumper set of bonuses for City of London bankers is set to give a much needed boost to the prime housing market in London and the south east. Paul Dales, UK economist at Capital Economics, said: “Assuming people do not just save money, it will feed through into household spend and GDP. We are likely to see a pick-up in non-retail spend, of things like cars, and possibly an upward spiral in the housing market in certain areas.” Ross Walker, UK economist at Royal Bank of Scotland, pointed to the surge in London property prices during the dotcom boom when bonuses were last at the kind of levels expected this year. However he said that house prices are unlikely to be boosted in the same huge way this time. “The difference this time is that valuations are already quite high, so people may be a bit more cautious about pumping money back into property.” The Times