London house price boom set to cool down May 28, 2014 LONDON’S housing market is likely to slow down over the summer and return to normal levels of growth in the coming years, Britain’s biggest building society said today. Prices in the capital have shot up by as much as 20 per cent in the last year, but are likely to gradually slow down to increase [...]
Value of London mortgages rockets 37pc May 28, 2014 Another sign of the surging housing market: the value of mortgages to home buyers in Greater London jumped 37 per cent from a year earlier in the first quarter of this year – to £5.6bn. The figure was actually down 10 per cent from the fourth quarter of 2013 – a seasonal dip impacting lending, [...]
Full steam ahead at Nationwide as chief issues warning on housing market May 28, 2014 Nationwide has reported its best ever annual results, but has warned that the housing market may well start seeing a “natural correction”. “At some point buyers just start saying no”, said the mutual's chief executive, Graham Beale, to the BBC’s business editor Kamal Ahmed. The prognosis came as Nationwide reported that it opened 430,000 new [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 23 May 2014 May 22, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Corrupt companies face higher fines British companies that bribe foreign officials to win contracts, commit fraud, or launder money, face fines of up to 400 per cent of their illicit profits, under new penalty guidelines. In the most serious cases companies will pay fines comparable with those meted out in the US, where [...]
The UK housing market needs Help to Supply – not Help to Buy May 21, 2014 THE UK housing market needs Help to Supply, not Help to Buy. The government’s housing scheme has helped first-time buyers get a leg-up onto the property ladder, but that privilege has come at a price – with house prices higher than otherwise, as the subsidy became capitalised in prices. The planning system has created a [...]
More ticket woe as Rugby World Cup early seat sale postponed May 15, 2014 TODAY’S planned sale of Rugby World Cup tickets has been postponed after Ticketmaster said it needed extra time to prepare its website, just days after their Commonwealth Games sale process was plunged into chaos. The first 500,000 seats for next autumn’s showpiece were due to be available to members of the Rugby Community Ticketing Programme [...]
Ukraine crisis and warm weather hammer EU-Russia trade May 15, 2014 Trade between Russia and the EU slumped in the first three months of 2014, according to figures to be released by Eurostat on Friday, reports Euractiv. EU imports from Russia dropped nine per cent in the first quarter compared to the same period last year, with the volume of Russian imports standing at €49bn (£40bn), [...]
The Bank of England is playing with fire by keeping rates so low May 14, 2014 INTEREST rates won’t be going up any time soon, even though the economy is now booming. The reason is simple: the Bank of England is deadly serious about using other tools to calm down the housing market if it feels that it is overheating; interest rates, or at least the Bank base rate, are now [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 14 May 2014 May 13, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Danone in talks over medical sale Danone is in talks with Nestle and other potential buyers over the disposal of most of its medical nutrition division, as it eyes an expansion of its baby food business. The French group, which is being advised by JP Morgan, stands to raise up to €5bn (£4.07bn) [...]
City workers fuel Midtown housing boom May 12, 2014 HOUSE prices in the area dubbed Midtown have outpaced the greater London market in the first three months of the year due to a surge in demand from buyers working in the capital’s financial sector, new research out yesterday shows. According to property consultants CBRE, the price of a property in Midtown – between the [...]