Results season begins as BT and National Express report July 26, 2009 THE company reporting season gets into full swing this week, with a slew of companies issuing numbers including BP, Shell and BT to name just three FTSE 100 giants. National Express, the rail and coach operator that recently became a takeover target after losing its franchise for the East Coast main line, reports on Thursday [...]
Mortgage approvals rise but consumers remain cautious July 23, 2009 UK MORTGAGE approvals rose to their highest level in June since March 2008 as the housing market shows signs of improvement and credit conditions are easing, according to data from the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) released yesterday. Figures from the BBA showed that mortgage approvals climbed to 35,235 in June from 31,919 in May. David [...]
Home loans hit six-month high in June July 20, 2009 GROSS mortgage lending hit a six-month high in June according to data released yesterday by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). Figures from the CML showed that gross mortgage lending rose 17 per cent in June to £12.3bn from £10.5bn in May, but was still 48.4 per cent lower than in June 2008. Gross lending [...]
London house asking prices turn positive July 19, 2009 AVERAGE asking prices for properties in London are higher now than they were a year ago, while the yearly decline for England and Wales was trimmed to 3.1 per cent, according to property website Rightmove. Rightmove figures show that the average asking price for a UK house rose by 0.6 per cent in July on [...]
ECONOMIST VIEWS: WHAT IS THE OUTLOOK FOR THE UK HOUSING MARKET? July 19, 2009 SEEMA SHAH CAPITAL ECONOMICSIn our view there are more falls to come, although recent falls have been slower than seen previously. The problem is that just by looking at a couple of months rise you forget how far they have fallen from the peak. The outlook is slightly more positive than it was but we [...]
Drop in house prices easing July 14, 2009 HOUSE prices only fell marginally in May compared to the previous month, taking the annual decline to 12.5 per cent, data from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) showed yesterday. In the three months to May, UK house prices fell by 0.4 per cent compared to a fall of 4.8 per cent in [...]
Higher mortgage rates are here to stay July 12, 2009 SO Nationwide is offering a mortgage that will allow some of its customers suffering from negative equity to move homes. So far, so mundane – but the loan will be worth 125 per cent of the value of the new property. I spent an hour debating this with David Kuo of Motley Fool, the popular [...]
FSA secures bankruptcy order July 9, 2009 City watchdog the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has secured a bankruptcy order in the High Court against former East London mortgage broker Sadia Nasir for non-payment of a £129,000 financial penalty levied on her by the FSA for mortgage fraud. This is the first time the FSA has taken bankruptcy proceedings for an unpaid financial [...]
Home lending still difficult, warns Bank June 29, 2009 MORTGAGE lending saw its weakest rise on record last month, according to the Bank of England, signalling the squeeze on home lending is far from over, despite recent signs that the property slump could be levelling out. The number of home loan approvals rose for the fourth consecutive month in May, climbing from 43,191 in [...]
THE LONDON REPORT June 23, 2009 The FTSE 100 closed down 0.1 per cent yesterday, falling just 4.03 points to 4,230.02 in a choppy session, with thin volumes exacerbating movements, after losing 2.6 per cent on Monday. The index has gained more than 22 per cent since hitting a six-year low in March, but is still down 4.6 per cent on [...]