Mortgage approvals hit nine-month low March 29, 2010 MORTGAGE approvals slumped to their lowest level in nine months in February, lending data from the Bank of England showed yesterday, providing further evidence that the recovery in the housing market may be running out of steam. The number of mortgages approved fell for the second consecutive month to 47,094 – the weakest since May [...]
THE WEEK AHEAD March 28, 2010 IN the first of two short trading weeks in Britain, domestic economic data remains thin on the ground. Monday sees the release of some consumer credit data, broad money lending and mortgage approvals at 8.30am. On Tuesday, the third revision to fourth quarter GDP data could raise an eyebrow but no change is expected. We [...]
At a glance: All of Alistair Darling’s 2010 Budget tax and spend policies March 24, 2010 THE ECONOMY/ PUBLIC FINANCES l Confirmed pre-Budget report (PBR) 2010 growth forecast of 1-1.5 per cent. But the chancellor revised downwards the 2011 forecast to 3-3.5 per cent to bring forecasts in line with those of the Bank of England. Growth forecast of 3.5 per cent in 2012 maintained. l Inflation spike expected to be [...]
Credit is becoming easier to obtain March 22, 2010 THIS column has been quite gloomy about Britain’s prospects in recent months, and will be even more so for the remainder of this Budget week. So here is a positive story for a change: it is clear that credit is becoming steadily more available, albeit at a higher price than in the bad old days. [...]
Business lending in January slumps at fastest annual rate since records begin March 18, 2010 LENDING to businesses fell at its fastest annual rate in January since records began more than a decade ago, figures from the Bank of England (BoE) showed yesterday. The flow of net lending fell £6.5bn in January, nearly twice as fast as in December, the BoE said in its Trends in Lending report. That pushed [...]
Harrah’s $5.5bn loan extended March 8, 2010 Harrah’s Entertainment has won approval from lenders to extend the maturity date on a $5.5bn (£3.65bn) loan, giving it until 2015 to pay off the debt. Harrah’s, the world’s largest operator of casinos, will also have the ability to buy back the commercial mortgage-backed securities loan at a steep discount, helping it reduce debt, the [...]
FINANCE March 4, 2010 Q. I need to secure a loan to expand my business, but in this environment are banks still willing to lend? A.Yes, according to Stephen Alambritis, chief spokesman for the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB): “Access to finance was a major problem last year, but the availability of money set aside specifically for small businesses [...]
Housing market dips on stamp duty return March 4, 2010 THE housing market recovery hit a stumbling block in February as poor weather, more properties being put up for sale and the end of the stamp duty holiday took their toll. House prices dropped 1.5 per cent last month, taking the value of the average home down to £166,587, according to the latest data from [...]
Mortgage approvals plummet March 1, 2010 LENDING to firms and households showed little sign of picking up in January from historically weak levels, in spite of a year of quantitative easing, Bank of England data showed yesterday. The Bank’s preferred measure of broad money growth M4, which excludes activity between intermediate financial institutions, stagnated in January. The annualised quarterly rate of [...]
Mortgage approvals on the slide March 1, 2010 THE number of mortgage approvals in January plummeted by 17 per cent in January compared with the previous month, according to official figures. Data from the Bank of England revealed that the number of home loans approved for house purchases in January fell by 17 per cent compared with the previous month. However, the 48,198 [...]