Choosing the right lender is crucial in a tough market June 3, 2010 HOUSES are selling like hotcakes thanks to fierce competition among buyers. The latest monthly survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) showed that houses are shifting quicker than new ones could come on to the market, despite the number of new sellers increasing. Even the dreaded gazumping is back. In such a market, [...]
PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS May 27, 2010 MORTGAGES FOR FIRST-TIME BUYERS The Yorkshire Building Society this week launched a new range of mortgages for first time buyers. The products have no up-front product fees and £500 cashback. You can also borrow up to 85 per cent of the value of the property. Borrowers will also get a free standard valuation and free [...]
Belle Epoque style enters the 21 century May 27, 2010 AT the turn of the last century a visit to the imposing Mont Pelerine Palace in the Swiss Alps was a favourite pastime among wealthy travellers. They arrived by train to the quiet commune of Chardonne before ascending by funicular to the elegant hotel, enjoying the famous local Charennes wine and mingling with New York [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 25, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES WATCHDOG HINTS AT CURBS ON TARGETED WEB ADS Companies such as Google and Yahoo could face tougher scrutiny in the UK after the Office of Fair Trading said it could step in to regulate targeted advertising on the internet. The watchdog said that more needed to be done to ensure that consumer rights [...]
Miners and banks help FTSE overturn three days of losses May 24, 2010 BRITAIN’S top shares broke a three-day losing streak yesterday as miners spurred by upbeat comments from China, outpaced falls in oils led by BP as concerns lingered over the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster. The FTSE 100 ended 6.68 points or 0.1 per cent higher at 5,026.44, in choppy trade. The index is down more [...]
Banks publish data for dark pool trading May 24, 2010 SIX big investment banks have published trading volumes for their “dark pools” for the first time, showing them as a tiny fraction of the market, not the major hidden rivals to stock exchanges that some argue. Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan Cazenove, Morgan Stanley and UBS together executed €596m (£512m) of equity trades [...]
American house sales jump to a five month high on the back of tax credit May 24, 2010 AMERICANS rushed to benefit from a tax credit for first-time homeowners during April, pushing house sales up 7.6 per cent. The five-month high is due in part to an $8,000 (£5,540) offer of government-funded credit for new homeowners, which expired on 30 April. The increase in sales was the highest jump in a decade and [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 23, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES PRINCE ANDREW’S TRADE ROLE DEFENDED Buckingham Palace defended Prince Andrew’s globetrotting role promoting British business on Sunday after a newspaper sting appeared to show his former wife selling access to him for £500,000, offered by a reporter posing as a tycoon. Both the royal household and the government said the Duke of York’s [...]
HOW THE AGREEMENT AFFECTS THE CITY May 20, 2010 BANKING • The coalition has agreed to impose some kind of levy on the banking industry, although its exact form has yet to be decided. The Tories want to introduce a fee on banks’ wholesale funding, while the Liberal Democrats would prefer a tax on profits. • There is a vague commitment to tackle “unacceptable [...]
Stylish, affordable new homes for a brave green world May 20, 2010 THE UK is committed to ensuring that all new homes meet an ambitious zero-carbon standard by 2016. And with only a smattering of them in the country to date, there’s a long way to go. Indeed, Barry Morgan, of Morgan Restoration, an ardent eco-developer who has just installed solar panels on The Boatyard development overlooking [...]