The investment trust sector and the Four Horsemen – a review of Q2 22 July 13, 2022 Conquest and War – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing conflict between the two countries; Famine – at the very least the increased threat of global food shortages as supplies from Ukraine, the ‘bread basket of Europe’, increasingly become weaponised; Death – despite the roll-out of vaccines, Covid-19 continues to mutate and take lives [...]
UK house prices hit average of £294,845 in largest growth spurt since 2004 July 7, 2022 House prices leaped in June in the largest increase of monthly growth since 2004, hitting an average of £294,845 after months of declining growth. Climbing ever-closer to the £300,000 mark, house prices jumped 1.8 per cent in June, after climbing one per cent in May, when the average cost of a home was £289,099, according [...]
PMI: House building shrinks for first time since beginning of pandemic July 6, 2022 A slowdown in the UK economy triggered by the cost of living crisis has led to house building stalling, a closely watched survey published today reveals. Activity in the UK house building sector dropped for the first time since May 2020, when the country was in the teeth of the most onerous pandemic restrictions, according [...]
Rising mortgage costs already eating into a third of annual income, research finds July 6, 2022 The rising cost of a mortgage is already eating into nearly a third of homeowners’ annual income, according to new research, casting even more concern over looming rates rises. UK households are this year facing a historic cost of living squeeze, which is expected to prompt the Bank of England to hike interest and mortgage [...]
M&G snaps up major stake in non-bank lender Finance Ireland July 6, 2022 London-listed M&G revealed it has snapped up a major stake in Ireland’s largest non-bank lender Finance Ireland today, as the international savings and investments firm looks to diversify and expand. FTSE-100 M&G has taken a 41 per cent stake in the firm, bosses said, with the investment made on behalf of the £143bn Prudential With [...]
Homeowners look to flog properties as UK house price growth slows July 6, 2022 Requests for property valuations have hit their highest since January, according to the latest research, as homeowners look to make the most out of the market while house prices are still hot. House price growth has been slowing since the beginning of the year, according to the country’s most watched indexes. While still breaking new [...]
doceo Watch List July 5, 2022 Discount Watch: 9 That’s the number of trusts whose discounts hit 52-week highs over the last seven days – an improvement on last week’s 14. Of the nine, three make an appearance for the second consecutive week: UK investor Diverse Income Trust (DIVI); Baillie Gifford European Growth (BGEU); and European big box investor Tritax EuroBox (EBOX). Sector-wise, property and private equity [...]
Boris Johnson’s plan for 50-year mortgages is outright ‘risky’ and solely aimed at inflating the market, warns property guru July 5, 2022 Boris Johnson’s latest proposal for the housing market is “another risky, spontaneous announcement aimed at temporarily inflating the housing market” according to the boss a major property firm. David Alexander, the chief executive officer of DJ Alexander Scotland, part of the Lomond Group, told City A.M. today he believes that the comments from the Prime [...]
Mortgage costs expected to grow by another £2,500 as inflation spirals July 1, 2022 The cost of a mortgage is expected to grow by another £2,500 by the end of this year, in comparison with December 2021, according to property site Zoopla today. Economists anticipate “sharp” hikes to mortgage rates in the coming months, as the Bank of England seeks to tame spiralling inflation, which is already at 9.1 [...]
UK more likely than US and Europe to tip into recession, Goldman Sachs warns June 30, 2022 The UK is more likely to tip into recession than the US and Europe due to the country suffering from a more “acute” cost of living crisis, a top Wall Street investment bank has warned. Rampant inflation in Britain, running at a four decade high of 9.1 per cent and the highest in the G7, [...]