THE LONDON REPORT June 23, 2009 The FTSE 100 closed down 0.1 per cent yesterday, falling just 4.03 points to 4,230.02 in a choppy session, with thin volumes exacerbating movements, after losing 2.6 per cent on Monday. The index has gained more than 22 per cent since hitting a six-year low in March, but is still down 4.6 per cent on [...]
Sterling’s long decline comes to an end May 27, 2009 IT may seem strange given the dire state of Britain’s public finances but sterling is starting to regain some of its strength, especially against the dollar. Yesterday the pound rose above $1.60 for the first time in seven months, boosted by better services sector sentiment and mortgage approvals. Sterling is now trading well above its [...]
Home loans plummet August 27, 2008 Deals for new houses remained close to a record low last month, with approvals for mortgages 65 per cent lower than a year ago. Mortgage approvals totalled 22,448 last month, according to the British Bankers’ Association (BBA), just above June’s series low of 22,369 but almost 12,000 below the average of the past six months. [...]
Data fans slump fears September 2, 2008 Weak data with British mortgage approvals at their lowest level in 15 years and the manufacturing sector shrinking for its fourth straight month in August yesterday heightened fears that a UK recession was now inevitable. The Bank of England said that mortgage approvals, seen as an indicator of future movements in house prices, fell to [...]
House prices fall furthest in 25 years September 5, 2008 Yet more doom and gloom was heaped on the housing market yesterday as retail bank Halifax announced the first double-digit drop in prices since 1983. Prices dipped a further 1.8 per cent in August following a drop of 1.7 per cent in July, marking the fifth month running that house prices have dropped by at [...]
MPC vote split three ways July 24, 2008 A surprise three-way split between Bank of England rate setters left economists guessing whether an interest rate rise was on the cards. The minutes of July’s Monetary Policy Committee rate contained the word inflation 54 times, which is higher than the average, according to Lehman Brothers, highlighting the MPC’s concerns about cost rises. Seven members [...]
UK recession looms July 30, 2008 The UK is drifting into a recession, leading economists warned yesterday, as approvals for British home loans in June hit their lowest level since records began and retail sales fell at their fastest pace in at least a quarter of a century. Home mortgage approvals, loans that are agreed but not yet made, fell in [...]
Housing recession creeping closer as Barratt cuts jobs July 11, 2008 Leading economists predicted yesterday that house prices will fall by 35 per cent by the end of next year, as lender Halifax reported a 2 per cent slump in values last month. Britain’s biggest mortgage lender said that house prices are already 6.1 per cent lower than last June, fuelling fears Britain is heading for [...]
Despite the gloomy market, investors still have something to cheer about July 3, 2008 Look beyond the doom-mongering, and there is still money to be made in property, says Alex Delmar-Morgan Property is a subject close to the hearts of the British people, and many home-owners have been chuffed over the past few years to see the prices of their properties increasing at massive rates. Surely, though, even the [...]
Mortgage approvals at a year high November 1, 2005 Bank of England data released yesterday sent out mixed messages, with mortgage approvals at their highest level in more than a year, but unsecured lending slowing down. Bank figures showed that house purchase approvals rose to 107,000 in September, up marginally from 106,000 in August. This puts mortgage approvals at their highest level since June [...]