UK house prices: Bovis Homes share price rises as it posts record profit January 15, 2016 Housebuilder Bovis Homes has ended the week on a high, with the announcement it made a record profit in 2015. Not surprisingly, the news sent shares up. The figures In a statement posted this morning, Bovis said it delivered 3,934 homes in 2015, eight per cent higher than in 2014. Average selling price increased seven per cent to £231,000. Private reservations increased by 10 per [...]
Britain needs an industrial house-building revolution to tackle housing market failure January 14, 2016 The world is moving from uncertainty to instability. Economic, political and social “flashpoints” include the United States, EU, China, North Korea and the Middle East. While the UK has sensible economic goals – 2.5 per cent growth, 2 per cent inflation, £1 trillion of exports by 2020 and improved public finances – progress is mixed. [...]
House prices: UK outpaced London as prime central property prices dropped last year January 14, 2016 House prices in central London fell by 8.7 per cent last year as higher stamp duty bills hit demand for £1.5m-plus homes, new research shows. Estate agents Your Move and Reeds Rains said prices dropped sharply in the capital’s five most expensive boroughs, dragging the annual rate of growth in London to 5.6 per cent, [...]
London house prices: Your home is paying off your annual commute in around a fortnight if you live in Surbiton, Tandridge, Harpenden, Henley and Epsom January 13, 2016 Have you found yourself grumbling about the ever-increasing cost of commuting, even when your train is delayed/cancelled/diverted for no apparent reason? If you're a property owner, it's time to turn that frown upside down. New research suggests that if you travel into London from the commuter belt, your home is actually paying off the cost of your annual [...]
Barratt share price jumps as housebuilder posts “excellent” first half January 13, 2016 Another day, another housebuilder smugly proving the property sector is where it's at these days. But one analyst was still cautious… The figures The company said it completed 7,626 homes in the six months to the end of December, 9.4 per cent more than last year. The company was receiving 0.66 net private reservations per active site each week – up from [...]
Taylor Wimpey boosted by government’s Starter Homes Initiative January 11, 2016 Another year, another strong performance by housebuilder Taylor Wimpey, which built more homes in 2015 than at any point in the last six years. The figures In a trading statement today, total home completions rose seven per cent to 13,341 in the year to the end of December, up from 12,454 in 2014 – including 2,509 affordable homes (that's 19 per cent of the [...]
London house prices: First-time buyers pay £91,000 deposit as fewer get on the property ladder in 2015, according to Halifax January 11, 2016 First-time home buyers needed an average deposit of £91,409 to buy a house in the capital last year, according to figures from a major British lender. The figures, published this morning by Halifax, showed London deposits were nearly three times the national average at £32,927. The deposits paid by first-time buyers nationally rose 13 per [...]
Top tips for saving up a house deposit January 8, 2016 Four out of five Britons under 30 would prefer to own their own home, rather than rent, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders, but in London, that’s easier said than done. Home ownership is at its lowest level in 25 years and property prices have risen to about six times the UK’s average annual [...]
Chinese shares rise two per cent after day of volatile trading – but end the week 10 per cent down January 8, 2016 Chinese shares closed mixed today, ending a week of volatile trading, following mounting fears over the pace of the country's economic slowdown. After a day of wild swings, China's Shanghai composite index closed up 1.97 per cent at 3,186.41 points. Meanwhile, the Shenzhen composite index ended the day 1.05 per cent higher at 1,978.721 points. The CSI 300 index, tracking [...]
2015 was a record year for new car registrations – but VW has lost January 7, 2016 Everyone's a petrolhead now. The year 2015 was a record year for new car registrations, new figures have shown, with 2.63m new vehicles registered during the year – up 6.3 per cent from last year. That was boosted by December – the biggest on record – during which 180,077 new cars were registered, up 8.4 per [...]