Lack of supply lifts house prices as mortgage lending increases September 14, 2009 HOUSE prices rose in August for the first time in two years, new data from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)showed yesterday, providing further evidence that activity in the housing market is improving. The seasonally-adjusted net balance of surveyors reporting rising rather than falling prices over the quarter to August turned positive with a [...]
BLOW-BY-BLOW: LEHMAN BROTHERS’ COLLAPSE September 13, 2009 22 August 2007Lehman closes its subprime lender BNC Mortgage as the sector falls into crisis. 17 June 2008Bank posts a $2.8bn loss in just one fiscal quarter. 13 September 2008Barclays and Bank of America end buyout plans as New York Fed boss Tim Geithner holds crisis talks. 15 September 2008In the early hours, Lehman files [...]
Take a punt on the market outlook for bricks and mortar September 13, 2009 A YEAR ago, many housing market observers were predicting doom. Prices would keep falling well into 2010, they said. The market could take years to pick up. But how wrong they were. Just as we have seen in the stock market, things have turned round much more quickly than almost anybody thought. Mortgage lender Halifax [...]
At auction, there are bargains for cash-rich buyers September 10, 2009 PROPERTY prices might well be looking up at the moment, but the market is still gridlocked. Buyers struggling to get mortgages and others worried that they might lose their jobs. It’s no fun being in a chain right now. Which is why auctions are becoming more popular. Gary Murphy, partner and auctioneer at Allsop, which [...]
House prices still going up September 10, 2009 HOUSE prices rose 0.8 per cent in August, reducing the annual decline to 10.1 per cent, new figures from mortgage lender Halifax revealed yesterday. This marks the second successive monthly increase and the fourth so far this year, supporting the now widespread belief that the UK housing market has stabilised. More encouragingly, the less volatile [...]
CITY CAN BE THE CRUNCH CASE CAPITAL September 8, 2009 ANTHONY MATONPARTNER AT HAUSFELD & CO LLP SINCE the credit crunch started in the US in 2007, the subsequent banking crisis has spread across the globe. The UK’s legal profession may have suffered as a consequence, but we have also been presented with a golden opportunity to position London as the international venue of choice [...]
UK set for square root-shaped recovery September 6, 2009 IT is almost official: we are out of recession. The economy is growing again, albeit at a snail’s pace, the equity and debt markets have bounced back, some firms are posting higher profits and there has been a mini-renaissance in City deal-making. All of which is great news but certainly not enough to uncork the [...]
FSAunder fire as building societies fight rules boost September 6, 2009 CITY financial watchdog the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has come under fire from building societies over its proposals to clamp down on their ability to lend to consumers. The lenders are understood to have teamed up and sent a fierce letter, through the Building Societies Association, to warn the FSA the rules will hamper their [...]
Call to close Fannie and Freddie September 2, 2009 The US Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) has urged the government to replace twin mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with a group of private firms issuing mortgage bonds backed by the state. The MBA’s plan would see federally regulated private firms known as Mortgage Credit Guarantor Entities – nicknamed “McGees” – purchase loans, sell [...]
HSBC debuts ultra-low rate on home loan September 2, 2009 HSBC has waded further into the mortgage market by offering a new deal at 1.99 per cent for borrowers who can stump up a 40 per cent deposit. The rate, the lowest ever for a home purchase or remortgage and a substantial discount on the bank’s standard variable rate (SVR) of 3.94 per cent, will [...]