UK house prices: Mild respite for home buyers as market cools January 8, 2015 House price growth continued to slow in December, but still remained at elevated levels. The climb in house prices was 7.8 per cent year-on-year in December, figures released yesterday by Halifax revealed. It marks a cooling from the peak of the recent boom that, according to Halifax’s figures, saw prices rise 10.2 per cent year-on-year [...]
First-time buyer sales up by 22 per cent last year January 6, 2015 HOUSE sales to first-time buyers rose by 22 per cent last year with 326,500 taking their first steps onto the property ladder. The rise in new buyers means sales at this end of the market are back to 2007 levels, at the start of the financial crisis. The figures, published by lender Halifax, show that [...]
Bank of England financial crisis minutes: BoE dubbed “the angel of death” by City watchdog January 6, 2015 At the peak of the crisis, the City watchdog was so scared that a lender’s discussions with the Bank of England could cause a run on that lender, it dubbed the Bank: “The angel of death.” Throughout the financial crisis, the Bank of England had to tread a careful line between propping up failing parts of [...]
Credit conditions make recovery January 6, 2015 CREDIT availability improved from October to December last year, according to survey figures released by the Bank of England yesterday. This contrasts with the plummet in availability from July to September. The net balance of lenders – the percentage of those saying “more” minus the percentage saying “less” – saying availability of credit to households [...]
UK house prices: Number of first-time buyers soar to highest level since the financial crash January 6, 2015 The number of first-time buyers soared to its highest level since 2007 last year, according to The Halifax. Last year the number of first-time buyers rose to 326,500, up 22 per cent on 2013, representing the highest number of first-time buyers since the financial crash of 2008. Halifax said the cost of putting down a [...]
London house prices and UK rent rises to slow in 2015 December 18, 2014 London house prices are set to stall in 2015, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said today. Prices in the UK are forecast to grow by three per cent in 2015, yet in the capital growth will be zero. Rents in the UK are expected to increase by just two per [...]
Co-operative Bank to speed up toxic loans sell off after failing Bank of England stress tests December 16, 2014 The Co-operative Bank was the only lender to fail the Bank of England’s stress tests yesterday. As a result, it is accelerating its plan to sell off or run down a £6.6bn book of bad loans from the pre-crash era. Eight high street institutions’ finances were tested to see how they would cope with a hypothetical [...]
Building societies turn against tide of finance regulation December 15, 2014 MUTUAL lenders have been favoured by politicians since banks led the way into the financial crisis, but a study yesterday showed almost every building society boss felt the sector was being harmed by red tape. The result is that innovation and diversification are being crushed, preventing the sector from making improvements which could help customers [...]
Mortgage rates lowest since 2007 December 15, 2014 Record price cuts have taken mortgage rates to their lowest rates since 2007, a mortgage broker said today. The average interest rate on two- year tracker mortgages – that track some interest rate, typically the Bank of England’s base rate – dropped by 0.28 per cent to 2.38 per cent in the three months to [...]
Stressing out: Britain’s lenders will be ticked off by the Bank of England as new tests bite December 14, 2014 If you happen to stroll down to Threadneedle Street in the early hours of tomorrow morning and find a hive of activity do not be alarmed – it’s just the start of the Bank of England’s inaugural stress tests results. While most of London slumbers at 5am, prudential regulation authority (PRA) officials will be locked [...]