Letters to the Editor – 27/01 – Carney’s low rates, Bonus cap, Best of Twitter January 26, 2014 Carney’s low rates [Re: Mark Carney has been the luckiest of unlucky Bank governors, Friday] The author puts his finger right on the key point when he highlights the issue of mounting imbalances due to low rates. But by the time the pressures become serious and can no longer be ignored, we will have to [...]
Firms still hold back as house lending rockets January 21, 2014 WHILE credit is rapidly flowing into the mortgage market, new figures from the Bank of England suggest that firms are still holding back from borrowing to grow. According to data released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) yesterday, gross lending for housing rocketed during 2013, up by 49 per cent in the 12 months [...]
Mortgage lending sees strongest quarter since 2008 January 21, 2014 (Laura Lean/City A.M.) Gross mortgage lending totalled an estimated £17bn in December, according to data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders. That's on par with November's total, yet 49 per cent greater than the level seen in December 2012 of £11.4bn. Council of Mortgage Lenders chief economist Bob Pannell says that level was "stronger than [...]
Fitch upgrades Virgin Money January 20, 2014 Challenger bank Virgin Money is getting stronger as its core markets like mortgages grow, credit ratings agency Fitch said yesterday. It upgraded the lender’s credit rating from triple-B to triple-B plus. Virgin’s foundation on the best Northern Rock mortgages is a good basis for growth, the agency said, and its new lending since then has [...]
Carney: House price boom set to end in 2016 January 18, 2014 BANK of England governor Mark Carney expects the recent surge in the property market to cool by 2016, as figures today confirm that house sales have returned to levels last seen in early 2008. The governor said that he is projecting “a continuation of the current momentum into 2014, before decelerating around the middle of [...]
Carney: House price boom set to end in 2016 January 15, 2014 BANK of England governor Mark Carney expects the recent surge in the property market to cool by 2016, as figures today confirm that house sales have returned to levels last seen in early 2008. The governor said that he is projecting “a continuation of the current momentum into 2014, before decelerating around the middle of [...]
Soaring mortgage numbers renew fears of bubbly housing market January 15, 2014 (Laura Lean/City A.M.) The latest housing data is enough to fuel concerns that a "new housing bubble could develop in 2014", says IHS Global Insight's Howard Archer. Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) figures show mortgage numbers rising by 14.9 per cent in the year to November. There's a more troubling surge among first-time buyers. They [...]
Young Britons hit hardest by housing crisis January 10, 2014 PR consultancy MRM has released a report investigating the attitudes of "Generation Austerity," aged 20-29. Their results set today's young people radically apart from the rest of the population, in their attitudes to personal finance. When asked what is the most important thing for you to save for right now, 37 per cent of generation [...]
Bank of England says Help to Buy is driving mortgage availability increase January 8, 2014 Some more data to buttress evidence of a rapidly picking up housing market, this time from the Bank of England. The Bank's credit conditions survey showed demand for house purchase loans and mortgages went up in the fourth quarter of 2013, with mortgage demand at its highest level since 2007. Along with secured lending to [...]
House prices drop unexpectedly – but don’t rule out a bubble just yet January 8, 2014 Mortgage lender Halifax has reported that British house prices fell 0.6 per cent month-on-month in December. The unexpected dip in house prices is a stark contrast with the 1.4 per cent month-on-month increase reported for December by Nationwide. In a poll of economists conducted by Reuters before the data release, not one predicted a fall [...]