UK mortgage approvals hit a five-year peak October 29, 2013 BRITISH lenders approved the most mortgages in over five years last month as borrowing costs sank to their lowest in a decade, central bank data showed yesterday, setting the stage for further house price rises. Business lending also picked up – though only for larger firms – but the figures did little to dispel concerns [...]
Letters to the Editor – 30/10 – HS2 flaws, Housing mobility, Best of Twitter October 29, 2013 HS2 flaws [Re: FTSE bosses lose faith in HS2, yesterday] That half of the surveyed FTSE 100 bosses are now against HS2 further underlines why the project has deep faults. The business case for HS2 is flawed, highlighted by the government’s own report, which lowered the expected benefit-cost ratio and revised an assumption that business people [...]
Highest level of new mortgage approvals since February 2008 October 29, 2013 UK mortgage approvals were at their highest levels for five and a half years at 66,735 in September, marginally over economists' estimates of 66,000. Last month's figure was 62,22.6. The figure, reported by the Bank of England, provides, says IHS Global Insight's Howard Archer, compelling evidence that activity in the housing market was already gaining momentum even [...]
What you need to know before the open – 29/10 October 29, 2013 Despite all-time highs for US markets yesterday, it was a mixed finish as the Fed meeting – due to begin today and finish tomorrow – is considered. Asian markets closed lower, too, as investors waited for the policy meeting. European markets are expected to look just as subdued this morning. ETX Capital #morningcall FTSE -4, [...]
Fannie Mae comes to Maastricht as Dutch government backs mortgages October 28, 2013 The Netherlands will attempt to revive its faltering housing market by issuing mortgage bonds backed by the state, in a bid to prevent a credit crunch. The Dutch government is planning to establish a finance company to buy securitized mortgages with government-guaranteed home-loan bonds. The scheme is to be worth £42bn over five years. The [...]
Bank of America found liable for fraud at US trial October 23, 2013 BANK of America was found liable for fraud at trial yesterday, as part of a case over its Countrywide arm’s sale of defective mortgages dating back to the financial crisis. A New York jury found that Countrywide, which was bought by Bank of America in 2008, was liable for one charge of civil fraud. The [...]
The UK economic growth surge exposes the real evidence on bank lending October 23, 2013 WHEN Charlie Bean, deputy governor at the Bank of England, gave his speech this week on the UK’s economic outlook, he admitted that the Old Lady was surprised with what was happening. The Bank’s analysis showed that the “recent run of UK data has been unusually strong relative to market expectations”. There are “at last [...]
UK banks benefit from housing upturn as corporate lending remains weak October 23, 2013 Citi Research has released a report concluding that there is an increasing upside to UK banks. Analysts cite several positive indicators leading to a positive assessment of the sector. There was a significant increase in mortgage volumes in July and August, with gross mortgage lending for the eight months to August 2013 amounting to £99bn, [...]
What you need to know before the open – 23/10 October 23, 2013 US markets continued to climb yesterday after US job numbers missed expectations, sending the S&P500 to new record highs for the third day in a row. Despite the upward revision to the jobs data, markets seem to be interpreting this as a staving off of tapering. European markets seem more restrained this morning, following a [...]
Bank’s Bean says UK some way off a housing boom October 22, 2013 Charlie Bean, deputy governor for Monetary Policy at the Bank of England, has said that he thinks we are "still some way off seeing an unsustainable house-price boom" despite "increasingly noisy commentary" to that effect. The third override condition, delegated to the Bank’s Financial Policy Committee, relates to whether the monetary policy stance is resulting [...]