Central banks will be net buyers of gold next year October 7, 2010 Central banks are expected to be net buyers of gold in 2011 for the first time in nearly two decades, the World Gold Council (WGC) said yesterday. “For next year, we will probably see a scenario where central banks are net buyers [of gold] for the first time in something like 17 years,” Marcus Grubb, [...]
FOCUS ON: WOOLWICH, SE18 October 7, 2010 THE ACADEMY, WOOLWICH Price: Apartments in Kitchener House start at £260,000 for a two-bed. This conversion of the 18th century former Royal Military Academy has created a whole range of different-sized apartments ideal for the first-time buyer. Unusually for new-builds, the flats retain the original building’s period features. It is hoped the development will eventually [...]
Central London homes hit as summer lull takes a toll October 5, 2010 HOUSE prices in central London fell for the first time in 18 months in the third quarter of the year, the property firm and chartered surveyor Cluttons said yesterday. Prices fell 0.2 per cent, reversing a 0.9 per cent increase in the previous quarter, as demand for property weakened and the number of properties offered [...]
FSA mortgage plans would have left 4m without loans October 5, 2010 NEARLY four million homeowners would have been denied a mortgage between 2005 and 2009 under affordability proposals put forward by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said yesterday. It said that amounted to over half of all loans during the period not being granted to potential borrowers, despite the fact [...]
Corporate lending in Europe, Africa and the Middle East rises to $574bn September 30, 2010 COMPANIES in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) borrowed $574bn (£365bn) of syndicated loans in the first nine months of 2010, up 16 per cent on the same period a year ago as the loan market was boosted by a jumbo loan for BHP Billiton, according to Thomson Reuters data. Lending in the third [...]
The crunch has made foreign dream homes far more affordable September 30, 2010 TOUGH economic times have opened the door for a new generation of property investment. Tumbling prices in both the UK and abroad have actually made this investment option more accessible than it was prior to the credit crunch. Nick Clark, managing director of the Property Investment Show, says: “House prices in England and Wales suffered [...]
Paragon set for a return to buy-to-let September 28, 2010 PARAGON, the buy-to-let mortgage provider, has returned to new lending after pulling out two years ago due to the global economic turmoil. Paragon chief executive Nigel Terrington said the company would specifically target professional landlords – an area of the market which it believes is underserved by buy-to-let lenders. Terrington said there were two primary [...]
China bid for UB gives Cable a headache September 27, 2010 United Biscuits could be the next iconic British firm to be snapped up by a foreign buyer, posing a fresh problem for embattled business secretary Vince Cable. China’s Bright Food Group has its eye on a $3.2bn (£2bn) bid for the maker of Jaffa Cakes and McVities biscuits. Cable has campaigned for tougher regulation to [...]
Britons hit by uncertainty September 26, 2010 BRITISH households felt their wallets stretched even further in September as a combination of rampant inflation, job market uncertainty and static incomes caused a marked deterioration in households’ finances, the Markit Household Finance Index will show today. Markit’s survey revealed that 27 per cent of households reported a deterioration in September compared to just 7 [...]
The housebuilding chief executive who can see clear blue skies ahead September 26, 2010 FOR A MAN who took over a housebuilder in the middle of a devastating financial and property crisis, David Ritchie, the chief executive of Bovis Homes, looks remarkably relaxed. But it is certainly fair to say the pain has eased in recent months for the firm, even though Ritchie remains in the middle of turning [...]