How to get on the housing ladder May 20, 2012 THERE is no doubt about it. It’s tough out there for first time buyers. But stricter lending criteria don’t necessarily mean it’s impossible to get on the housing ladder. However, you must know the basics so you can build your decision on strong foundations. DO THE MATHS Incentives matter. It was recently confirmed by the [...]
Like avian flu Eurozone contagion could be on us before we know it May 17, 2012 ON THURSDAY we finally saw what contagion could look like. After large deposit withdrawals from Greek lenders earlier this week, Spanish newspapers reported that one of Spain’s banks was facing similar problems, although it later denied this. Contagion was only meant to happen when Greece actually left – or was kicked out – of the [...]
Dutch bank ABN AMRO warns bad loans will continue to rise May 16, 2012 NATIONALISED Dutch lender ABN AMRO reported a 16 per cent drop in net profit to €454m (£363m), hit by a rise in losses on bad loans due to the ongoing recession in its home market. It was a significant improvement on the €23m loss seen in the fourth quarter of last year, when all banks [...]
Stamp duty deadline stimulates surge in March mortgage loans May 16, 2012 MORTGAGE lending soared throughout the housing market in March, industry data showed yesterday, as the stamp duty holiday fuelled an escalation in buying. First-time buyers were exempt from stamp duty on properties worth under £250,000 until the end of the month resulting in a 74 per cent monthly rise in the number of first time [...]
Ally Financial in bankruptcy filing May 14, 2012 Ally Financial’s mortgage unit yesterday filed for bankruptcy as the auto lender said it will sell some international operations to help it repay $12bn (£7bn) in bailout money. Ally’s mortgage unit, called ResCap, filed for bankruptcy protection in federal court in Manhattan.
Ally Financial’s ResCap is filing for bankruptcy May 13, 2012 ALLY Financial’s Residential Capital unit is nearing a bankruptcy filing, sources familiar with the situation said yesterday, in a move that could help the US taxpayer-owned car lender shed its troubled mortgage business but also spur drawn-out legal fights. The board of ResCap was set to meet late yesterday and a pre-arranged bankruptcy filing, where [...]
NAB’s British business drags down profits May 10, 2012 NATIONAL Australia Bank (NAB), the country’s top lender by assets, yesterday posted record first half earnings as higher trading, fee income and a rising share of the mortgage market countered losses in its UK operations. While NAB and rivals ANZ and Westpac have reported strong headline numbers for the half-year, all saw margins squeezed as [...]
Buy to let loans rise as market woes heal May 10, 2012 BUY to let lending jumped sharply in the last year, industry figures showed yesterday, though the sector remains far smaller than it was in its 2007 peak. Lending in the first quarter hit £3.7bn in 32,000 loans, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders. This was up 32 per cent on the same period of [...]
Barratt homes enjoys its best spring sales season in five years May 10, 2012 BARRATT yesterday hailed its best spring selling season in five years, as it focused on more buoyant sections of Britain’s weak property market and government initiatives helped to prop it up. The company, one of Britain’s largest housebuilders, said while the economic outlook remains uncertain, it expects “the various government initiatives to continue to provide [...]
Mass lay-offs push HSBC cost savings to $2bn May 8, 2012 HSBC beat expectations after cracking down on its cost base in the first quarter of this year, laying off thousands to bring its overall job cuts to 14,000 while keeping its revenues steady. Excluding the effect of an accounting loss on its debt, the bank’s underlying pre-tax profits rose from $5.5bn in early 2011 to [...]