Moody’s chops 3CIF’s rating on bailout fear August 28, 2012 MORTGAGE lender Caisse Centrale du Credit Immobilier de France (3CIF) yesterday saw its long-term debt rating slashed from A1 to Baa1 by ratings agency Moody’s, as it continues to seek a buyer. The troubled institution cannot access capital markets, and in July announced plans to sell itself. But its long-term future is far from assured [...]
Fewer deals on offer for first time buyers August 22, 2012 THE MORTGAGE market has tightened up over the past six months, but remortgage lending has bounced back, according to reports. The number of high loan-to-value (LTV) mortgages has plummeted, with a collapse in 90 per cent and 95 per cent mortgages offered, MoneySupermarket said yesterday. Its data shows that 95 per cent mortgage availability has [...]
Mortgage lending jumps ahead of Funding for Lending Scheme August 20, 2012 MORTGAGE lending jumped sharply in July, according to industry data published yesterday, with the government’s new Funding for Lending Scheme expected to boost loans further through August. Gross lending rose eight per cent to £12.7bn in the month, reversing the fall to £11.7bn in June, the Council of Mortgage Lenders revealed. However, analysts warn the [...]
House prices show biggest fall in a year August 14, 2012 British house prices experienced their most widespread falls for a year in the three months to July, and surveyors do not expect the outlook to improve over the next 12 months, a survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) showed today. The figures, which also show sellers hanging back, reinforce a generally gloomy [...]
Supply to housing market declines August 13, 2012 The supply of properties into the housing market continued to drop last month, according to a widely-regarded survey released this morning. A net balance of 15 per cent of surveyors reported weaker demand in July, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors found. And five per cent more chartered surveyors reported falls rather than rises in [...]
Post Office to offer mortgages across its local branch network August 9, 2012 POST Office customers will be able to pick up a mortgage alongside their book of stamps, under a pilot scheme launched yesterday. Trained mortgage advisers are now available in five of the organisation’s outlets – Birmingham, Solihull, Walsall, Luton and Norwich – to offer free consultations as part of the firm’s push to become one [...]
Prospective first time buyers hit by the escalating cost of renting August 9, 2012 HOPEFUL first time home buyers are trapped in an increasingly expensive rental market, according to a series of separate studies released yesterday and today. The cost of renting a home shot up by 4.3 per cent in the year to May-July, with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) explaining that “many would-be buyers continue [...]
House prices fall 0.6 per cent in July August 6, 2012 British house prices fell by 0.6 per cent in July, mortgage lender Halifax said today, a marginally bigger fall than economists had forecast but one that leaves the pattern of broadly stable prices intact. House prices in the three months to July are 0.6 per cent down on a year earlier, in line with forecasts [...]
Cameron’s decision to stick with Osborne is a major gamble August 2, 2012 SO that’s it, then. George Osborne will remain chancellor after the September reshuffle, and will keep his job until the election. David Cameron was emphatic yesterday. It means his fortunes are now inextricably linked to his chancellor’s; critics of Osborne’s policies will now also become critics of Cameron’s; and anybody who wants to replace the [...]
New lending plan gets off to a shaky start August 1, 2012 THE GOVERNMENT’S latest plan to give banks cheap funds in an effort to boost lending to firms and households received a cautious welcome from banks when it opened yesterday. Majority taxpayer-owned RBS accessed the “Funding for Lending” scheme (FLS) immediately, and cut mortgage and corporate loan interest rates by up to 1.6 percentage points. Lloyds, [...]