House prices rise but double dip fears persist March 30, 2010 HOUSE prices managed to rise 0.7 per cent in March on the previous month, mortgage lender Nationwide reported yesterday. However, the gain did little to dispel fears of a double-dip in the housing market as buyers exercise caution ahead of the election. Martin Gahbauer, chief economist at Nationwide, said: “The last two months are consistent [...]
Cheats may cash in on home relief March 25, 2010 THE decision to scrap stamp duty for first-time buyers purchasing homes under £250,000 risks becoming a “charter for cheats”, critics suggested yesterday. Although the housing industry has welcomed the move because it should boost a flagging market, there are fears that it will be hard to police. Some institutions, such as the Council for Mortgage [...]
BUYING March 25, 2010 Camilla Dell MANAGING PARTNER AT BLACK BRICK Q.Dear Camilla, I am looking to sell my house in the near future and I was wondering how the property will be valued. A.The process of valuation in the current property market has become a very tricky business. Traditionally, valuers have depended, at least partially, on sale prices [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 23, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES POKER PROVES TOUGH GAMBLE FOR 888 888 Holdings took a near 30 per cent hit on poker revenues last year, but the online gambling operator said it was confident of tapping into its well of social players and predicted a return to poker growth in the second half of 2010. Poker was the [...]
Credit is becoming easier to obtain March 22, 2010 THIS column has been quite gloomy about Britain’s prospects in recent months, and will be even more so for the remainder of this Budget week. So here is a positive story for a change: it is clear that credit is becoming steadily more available, albeit at a higher price than in the bad old days. [...]
EMI plans to raise £400m in rights lease March 21, 2010 TROUBLED music group EMI could offer rivals the chance to cash in on its star artists’ back catalogues as it desperately seeks to stave off a takeover bid. The label faces a spiralling cash crisis and is at risk of being bought up by its biggest lender, Citigroup, unless it can raise funds. It hopes [...]
Mortgage lending edges up in February but lack of funding hampers recovery March 18, 2010 MORTGAGE lending saw a small boost last month with a six per cent rise compared to January, but remains six per cent lower year-on-year. Despite the month-on-month increase, the estimated £9.2bn in mortgage lending for February was the lowest for a decade, and economists warned the lending market remained in flux. Economist Paul Samter from [...]
Business lending in January slumps at fastest annual rate since records begin March 18, 2010 LENDING to businesses fell at its fastest annual rate in January since records began more than a decade ago, figures from the Bank of England (BoE) showed yesterday. The flow of net lending fell £6.5bn in January, nearly twice as fast as in December, the BoE said in its Trends in Lending report. That pushed [...]
First-time buyers hit by rising house prices in January March 16, 2010 FIRST-time buyers were faced with house prices 8.9 per cent higher in January than the same month last year, according to figures from the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG). The department said average prices paid by those buying their first home was £149,924 in January. This was up 0.2 per cent against December [...]
Northern Rock losses narrow March 10, 2010 LOSSES at nationalised bank Northern Rock shrank to £257.4m last year, as income levels picked up and bad loans lessened in the second half of the year. This compares to a £1.36bn pre-tax loss in 2008, when the beleaguered lender was feeling the full force of the financial crisis. Rock, which was taken into the [...]