House prices fall at fastest rate for a year March 4, 2011 House prices fell 0.9 per cent in February, and by 2.8 per cent in the three months to February compared with a year ago, their fastest annual pace in more than a year, mortgage lender Halifax said on Friday. Halifax said that February’s drop offset a 0.8 per cent rise in January, but it expects [...]
What the other papers say this morning March 1, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES TOP 10 HEDGE FUNDS MAKE $28BN The top 10 hedge funds made $28bn for clients in the second half of last year, $2bn more than the net profits of Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Barclays and HSBC combined, according to new data. Even the biggest of the hedge funds have only a [...]
Profits double at Persimmon as sales falter March 1, 2011 HOUSEBUILDER Persimmon warned yesterday that the weak mortgage market will continue to dampen sales this year, after almost doubling its pre-tax profit to £153.9m in 2010. While Persimmon sold 4.5 per cent more homes last year, the firm said completions tailed off towards the end of 2010 amid a tough mortgage market and economic fears. [...]
What the other papers say this morning February 28, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES NORTHERN ROCK TO OFFER 90 PER CENT MORTGAGES Northern Rock is poised to launch a range of mortgages offering up to 90 per cent of a property’s value, marking the nationalised bank’s return to riskier lending three years after its collapse and government bail-out. The lossmaking lender could make the new high loan-to-value [...]
HSBC set for $20bn profit February 27, 2011 HSBC is due to report its highest profit since before the financial crisis this morning, with analysts predicting earnings of more than $20bn (£12.4bn). But all eyes will be on HSBC’s staff pay-outs, thanks to strong hints from the bank that it will unveil aggregate salaries and bonuses for several hundred of its top employees, [...]
PROPERTY NEWS February 24, 2011 HOMEBUYERS GAIN INVESTOR POWERS A new service which will enable homebuyers to enjoy many of the same perks as property investors has been launched this week by property company Assetz. “Assetz Homes” will help buyers to secure the best properties at the most competitive prices by negotiating discounts on their behalf – a significant advantage [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 21, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES MOD TO SHAME LAX CONTRACTORS Liam Fox is to name and shame defence companies that fail to deliver military projects to the government on time, in a radical attempt to re-establish control over the department’s heavily overspent procurement budget. As the defence secretary wrestles with the consequences of slack spending on equipment programmes [...]
London set to defy UK house slump February 20, 2011 LONDON’S housing market is set to buck the national trend with the number of new sellers up by more than a fifth, the Rightmove house price index reveals today. Across the UK, annualised new seller numbers have remained “practically unchanged” so that sluggish transaction levels are “set to be the norm,” the survey said. “But [...]
BoE says mortgage lending flat in January February 18, 2011 The country’s major lenders approved 41,000 mortgages for house purchase in January, the Bank of England said on Friday, the same number as in December and a further sign that the housing market remains in the doldrums. The BoE, updating its Trends in Lending statistics, said net mortgage lending picked up slightly in January to [...]
Three ways to maximise your borrowing potential February 16, 2011 IT’S bonus season, and some high-earning City workers are likely to take advantage of the promise of rising top-end prices to snap up exclusive pads – provided they can get the necessary finance. The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) estimated earlier this year that bonuses would amount to £7bn. The final figure is [...]