First time buyers rise ahead of stamp duty increase February 13, 2012 The number of first-time buyers purchasing property increased by seven per cent at the end of 2011, fuelled by the impending increase in stamp duty. There were 18,700 mortgages – worth a total of £2.3bn – issued to new purchasers in December, an increase of seven per cent by volume and ten per cent by value [...]
More first time buyer mortgages February 12, 2012 The number of mortgages offering 95 per cent loan-to-value (LTV) deals to first time buyers has hit its highest level since before the financial crisis, the Mortgage Advice Bureau claims this morning. The broker says there are currently 59 such deals open to people looking to make their first step onto the property ladder, offered [...]
Repossessions forecast to rise February 9, 2012 HOUSE PRICES are set to fall in 2012 as unemployment rises and household income stays depressed, according to yesterday’s forecasts from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) and today’s LSL house price index and e.surv mortgage monitor. The weak economic outlook is also set to push up repossessions as more borrowers fail to keep up [...]
PROPERTY NEWS February 9, 2012 REPOSSESSIONS TO RISE British mortgage repossessions hit their lowest since 2007 last year but are expected to rise in 2012 due to increasing unemployment, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said yesterday. The CML said the number of home repossessions came in at 8,500 between October and December, down from 9,300 in the previous three-month [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 8, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES BROKERS SUSPENDED IN LIBOR INQUIRY More than a dozen traders and brokers in London and Asia have been fired, suspended or put on leave by their employers as a multinational probe into alleged manipulation of crucial global lending rates accelerates. Regulators have been investigating US and European banks that help set interbank lending [...]
FTSE dips as Greece D-Day arrives February 6, 2012 The FTSE 100 slipped as the deadline for Greece to accept a new bailout or face a default which could trigger financial shockwaves across the globe arrived. Greece must tell the European Union by the end of today whether it accepts the stringent terms of a new bailout deal amid reports of divisions within the [...]
House prices in slim rise February 6, 2012 House prices rose by 0.6 per cent in January figures from mortgage lender Halifax showed helping to recover some lost ground. House prices fell by 1.8 per cent in the three months to January compared with a year ago, taking the average price of a home to 160,907 pounds. “The continuing very low level of [...]
Hopeful house buyers put off by low supply February 5, 2012 A SHORTAGE of suitable housing is preventing potential first-time buyers from stepping onto the property ladder, according to data released this morning. Asked to name their biggest concern about buying a home, the second most common response among potential buyers was the difficulty of finding a property. “In the final quarter of 2011, the numbers [...]
Santander takes €1.7bn property hit January 31, 2012 A MASSIVE write-down on its Spanish property portfolio wiped out Santander’s profits in the fourth quarter of last year, the bank revealed in full-year results yesterday. The lender was forced to make a net provision of €1.67bn due to the plunging value of its assets, mostly in Spanish real estate. That took its bottom line [...]
US mortgage deal closer January 23, 2012 US STATE and federal officials are nearing a deal with the nation’s five largest mortgage lenders to settle claims of foreclosure that drove people out of their homes. Democratic state attorneys general and Obama administration officials met yesterday in Chicago to discuss the terms of the settlement. People familiar with the talks have said Bank [...]