UK house price growth rises to highest rate in five years October 30, 2020 UK house price growth jumped to the highest rate in five years this month, as the market continued to experience a post-lockdown bounce. Annual UK house price growth rose to 5.8 per cent in October, the highest level since January 2015. Property prices were up 0.8 per cent month-on-month compared to growth of 0.9 per [...]
Eurozone economy posts record growth but Covid set to knock recovery October 30, 2020 The Eurozone economy handily beat expectations in the third quarter of the year with record growth, although surging coronavirus cases and new lockdowns now look set to knock the recovery off course. Eurozone GDP grew 12.7 per cent in the third quarter, having slumped 11.8 per cent in the April to June period, the EU’s [...]
IMF: UK economy to shrink more than 10 per cent amid second wave October 29, 2020 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) slashed its growth forecasts for the UK economy today, and urged the government to keep spending record amounts to support a recovery. UK GDP will shrink by 10.4 per cent in 2020, the Fund said. The new figure was a considerable from the prediction of a 9.6 per cent fall [...]
Mortgage approvals soar to 13-year high as UK housing market booms October 29, 2020 Mortgage approvals jumped again in September to hit a 13-year high as pent-up demand and the stamp duty holiday fuelled the housing market despite the economy’s fragile state. Approvals of mortgages for house purchase rose sharply to 91,500 in September from 85,500 in August, the Bank of England said today. Analysts had expected the number [...]
ECB leaves interest rates unchanged while Eurozone recovery loses momentum October 29, 2020 The European Central Bank (ECB) left interest rates on hold at their record low level, but hinted at further support in December as the eurozone economy grapples with a second wave of coronavirus cases. The central bank said it would “recalibrate its instruments” in response to the fresh wave of Covid-19 infections after its next [...]
US economy rebounds with record growth, but now faces new headwinds October 29, 2020 The US economy grew at a record pace in the third quarter of the year after the devastation of the spring, according to figures that will no doubt please President Donald Trump ahead of the election. US GDP grew at a quarterly rate of 7.4 per cent, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said, following a [...]
UK economy: Experts cut forecast as coronavirus cases surge October 29, 2020 Analysts have become significantly more pessimistic about the UK economy, saying the surge in coronavirus cases and new restrictions will weigh on the recovery as the year runs into 2021. Economists say chancellor Rishi Sunak’s more generous employment support scheme will help limit some damage in the jobs market. But they warn that new lockdowns [...]
Who’s afraid of Jerome Powell? October 28, 2020 | City Talk I see charts of central bank balance sheets everywhere. Maybe it’s because I am so adamant that quantitative easing (QE) isn’t going to create inflation that I notice them so much. But then again, there is a reason these charts pop up time and again. After all, the US Federal Reserve has increased its balance sheet by $2.8 trillion, [...]
Rush to beat stamp duty rise sees UK house prices jump again October 28, 2020 The stamp duty holiday and pent-up demand have led to a stampede into the housing market, with 140,000 more buyers currently waiting to complete their property transactions than a year earlier, according to a new report. The high demand saw UK house prices jump again in September by three per cent year on year, the [...]
Forget the polls endorsing lockdowns and look at how people actually behave October 28, 2020 Economics is at long last storming the bastions of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE). This citadel of epidemiologists and health professionals has for many months resisted the lessons which the so-called gloomy science can bring. In the context of Covid-19, economics is in fact a beacon of hope. This week, news broke of [...]