What you need to know before the open March 31, 2014 European markets are expected to open higher this morning in wake of last week's gains. Investors hope that the European Central Bank will take a more dovish approach to monetary policy and China will take steps to counter economic slowdown. German retail sales rose by a better than expected 1.3 per cent in February. Corporate [...]
London Report: Mortgage lending data to shine light on housing boom March 30, 2014 MORTGAGE approval data for February, due out today, are likely to highlight more growth in the heated housing market. The figures will be closely watched after the Bank of England last week warned some borrowers may be overstretching themselves in the current fast-moving market. Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data for manufacturing, construction and services published [...]
Carpetright cuts profits again as sales wear thin March 26, 2014 CARPETRIGHT issued its third profit warning in less than six months yesterday, saying that the recovery in the housing market has yet to reach its tills and lead to more people refurbishing their homes. The flooring specialist, whose boss Darren Shapland quit after its first October profit warning, said it now expected underlying pre-tax profit [...]
UK house prices see biggest jump since summer 2010 March 25, 2014 House prices rose 6.8 per cent compared with a year earlier – the biggest increase since August 2010 – and up from 5.5 per cent in December, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics. A Bloomberg poll revealed analysts expected a rise of 6.6 per cent. London led the increase, with prices up [...]
Crest Nicholson upbeat as house price rises reach home counties March 20, 2014 HOUSE prices in the home counties are starting to reflect the “ripple effect” from the sharp rise in London home values, Crest Nicholson said yesterday. The housing developer said this growth in the average selling price, together with the government’s Help to Buy scheme and the overall improvement in the economy meant sales for new [...]
Why this analyst believes time is running out to prevent a housing bubble March 7, 2014 Both the government and the Bank of England need to take urgent action to prevent the UK from entering into another housing boom, according to chief UK economist at Berenberg, Robert Wood. The warning comes after a host of data releases showing rapid increases in house prices across the UK. The Halifax house house price [...]
Brand Index: Hot housing market masks finance fear for many Brits March 4, 2014 THE LATEST figures from the YouGov/Cebr consumer confidence index show that the economic recovery is finally starting to move from a headline to a concrete reality for greater numbers of ordinary people. Champagne bottles are by no means being uncorked in large numbers, but there has been a steady increase in the percentage of people [...]
Bank use of Funding for Lending surges but business loans drop March 3, 2014 USE OF the Funding for Lending Scheme by banks surged in the last part of 2013, with nearly half of the borrowings made so far coming in the year’s final quarter. Banks drew down £18.79bn in the final three months of the year, out of £41.92bn in the six quarters the scheme has been active. [...]
UK mortgage approvals soar to highest level since 2007 March 3, 2014 The Bank of England (BoE) has released figures showing mortgage approvals for new house purchases climbed from 72,798 to 76,947 in January – their highest level since November 2007. However, mortgage approvals remained 25 per cent below their pre-crisis levels. UK economist for London-based consultancy Capital Economics Samuel Tombs, said: There is little reason to [...]
What you need to know before the open March 3, 2014 European stock futures have been falling as the tensions in Ukraine continue to rise. The rouble is currently at an all-time low, and Russia’s central bank has announced it’s hiking its benchmark interest rate from 5.5 per cent to seven per cent. All European markets are expected to fall sharply at the open, after Ukraine [...]