Mortgage approvals hit a nine-month high in December January 31, 2017 The Bank of England's mortgage borrowing hit a nine-month high in December as the housing market recovered from the lull it experienced in the months after the Brexit vote. At 67,898, the number of mortgage approvals for house purchases increased 10.7 per cent from the low (61,335) it hit in August. Read more: I can't help but [...]
US consumers feel a Trump bump as confidence rises to 12-year high January 27, 2017 US consumers have greeted the arrival of Donald Trump as President with glee, as confidence soared in January to its highest level in 12 years, according to a closely watched survey. Optimism for the prospects of the world’s largest economy has risen by nine per cent year on year, according to the survey by the [...]
Mortgage lending hit a nine-month high in December January 26, 2017 Mortgage approvals hit a nine-month high in December, and overall in 2016, gross mortgage lending increased 12 per cent. Figures from the British Bankers Association show that gross mortgage borrowing increased by 3.6 per cent year-on-year in December, reaching £12.6bn, with remortgaging approvals jumping 30 per cent to their highest level since October 2008. Read more: Restaurateur [...]
I can’t help but worry about the potential for the mother of all house price crashes January 26, 2017 The year opened with alarming newspaper headlines in The Daily Telegraph on the risk of a global property price crash. How worried should we be in the UK? The ratio of house prices to incomes in the UK is close to the all-time high it reached before the financial crisis. If that ratio mean reverts over [...]
Property transactions were resilient throughout 2016 January 24, 2017 The number of property transactions fell 8.5 per cent year-on-year in December 2016 – but over the year as a whole, the market was resilient. Data from HM Revenue and Customs shows that there were 1,231,120 residential transactions last year, ahead of the number of transactions in both 2014 (1,225,120) and 2015 (1,225,970). However, the [...]
Startup taking the hassle out of mortgages, Habito, has landed millions in new funding January 23, 2017 A property technology startup which helps find homebuyers the best deal on their mortgage online via a chatbot has raised a new multi-million pound round of funding to support its growth, City A.M can exclusively reveal. Habito, already backed by seed capital from the entrepreneurs behind Transferwise and Funding Circle, has landed a further £5.5m of cash led by [...]
Royal Bank of Scotland flogs £235m of investment grade shipping loans to Japanese bank January 20, 2017 Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has sold £235m of Greek shipping loans to Japanese firm Orix in an attempt to bolster the coffers of the majority state-owned bank. The sale is considerably smaller than the original $3bn deal to sell the whole of RBS' Greek shipping business to Orix, and a narrower portfolio compared with $600m of debt [...]
How to invest your bonus: If you’re not off to the McLaren dealership, topping up a pension makes good sense January 18, 2017 Industry experts have warned that bonus season in the Square Mile might not be so bumper this year. In December, research by Emolument.com indicated that just 40 per cent of bankers in mergers and acquisitions found their sweetener satisfactory. And this week, the market leader of PwC’s global financial services HR consulting practice has warned that [...]
Mortgage lending to first time buyers increases as stamp duty bites landlords January 17, 2017 Buy to let landlords continued to shun the property market towards the end of last year, allowing more first time buyers to take out home loans. The number of loans taken out by landlords fell 10 per cent year-on-year in November, according to figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), suggesting that tax changes [...]
How to earn passive income: 22 ways to create multiple streams of income January 16, 2017 Making money while you sleep. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? After reading books like "Rich Dad Poor Dad" and "4 Hour Work Week," I became interested obsessed with making passive income. Whenever someone needs additional income, the stereotypical suggestion offered is to “get a part-time job.” But what if you don't have [...]