Greek shares plummet as the Athens Stock Exchange reopens August 3, 2015 Greece's main stock index continued to haemorrhage today after the cash-strapped country's markets were opened for the first time in five weeks. By this afternoon the Athens Stock Exchange had recovered slightly from the earlier sell-off and was down 16.3 per cent at 667.46 points. It posted its worst ever one-day performance after only a few minutes of trading this [...]
London house prices: First-time home buyers face nightmare market as deposits soar and supply lags July 31, 2015 We all know how tough the housing market is for first-time buyers, and one of the main reasons is lack of supply. Much has been said about how the government is looking to tackle this problem by encouraging housebuilders to ramp up construction of new builds. But figures out this morning show that far from [...]
Countrywide share price slumps after UK housing market slowdown July 31, 2015 Shares in the UK’s biggest estate agency Countrywide tumbled four per cent yesterday after posting a sharp fall in profits, blaming a “difficult housing market” and the uncertainty in the run-up to the General Election. The company, which owns estate agencies including Hamptons, Blundells and John D Wood, said profit before tax decreased [...]
Maximum excitement on the football July 30, 2015 TV VIEWERS should be in for a treat on Sunday – it has been seven years since the last goalless draw in the Community Shield. That came when Manchester United and Portsmouth met in the 2008 curtain-raiser. The previous nil-nil before that? When Tottenham and Arsenal clashed in 1991 and were the last teams to [...]
As David Cameron vows to crack down on corrupt foreigners buying London properties, can PM lift the shroud of secrecy? July 30, 2015 Prime Minister David Cameron grabbed headlines this week when he said: “There is no place for dirty money in Britain.” Vowing to remove a “shroud of secrecy” surrounding luxury London properties owned by offshore holding companies, the Prime Minister said in a speech in Singapore that the UK “must not become a safe haven for [...]
OntheMarket will fizzle out before its first birthday because unlike Zoopla and RightMove it serves the middlemen, not home buyers and sellers July 29, 2015 Years ago, estate agents used to sell properties via traditional marketing campaigns, from listings in a shop window to double page adverts in the local newspaper. Times have certainly changed and these days nearly all property buyers head to Zoopla or Rightmove to find their next property. This week marks the six-month birthday for [...]
UK house prices: Rightmove share price jumps as it absorbs business from rivals July 29, 2015 It seems the launch of an estate agent-run portal which forces agents to choose between Rightmove and Zoopla has done no harm to the former, after it reported a 16 per cent rise in revenues during the first half of the year. The figures The housing boom continues to benefit Rightmove: revenues rose to £93.1m in [...]
Pearson in talks to sell Economist Group stake after FT Group sale July 29, 2015 Publisher Pearson is said to be in talks to sell off its 50 per cent stake worth about £400m in the Economist Group to other shareholders. A source told the Financial Times that a deal should be wrapped up at some point this summer and potential buyers include families such as Schroders, the Cadburys and the [...]
The National Association of Estate Agents: Number of house hunters hits an 11-year high July 29, 2015 The number of people hunting for a new home in Britain hit an 11-year high last month amid a dwindling housing stock and sky-high prices. Figures released today by the The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) showed around 439 house hunters were registered to each estate agent branch in the UK last month. This [...]
UK house prices: MPs form new cross-party group over housing crisis July 27, 2015 Members of Parliament from across the political spectrum have banded together to tackle the housing crisis as a new report shows first-time buyers are bearing the brunt of rapidly increasing house prices. The new all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for housing and planning, which includes Tory and Labour MPs, as well as cross-bench peers, will [...]