Don’t bank on a rise in interest rates to end poor returns for savers August 6, 2015 To no-one's surprise, the Bank of England’s rate-setting committee kept the base rate at 0.5 per cent yesterday. While anyone with a mortgage will have breathed a sigh of relief, savers will take the announcement as further confirmation that they’re unlikely to earn a decent return any time soon. But is the low base [...]
Traditional banking needs to act fast to survive Google’s predictive power August 6, 2015 The options we have for our everyday bank accounts are increasing. Virgin Money, Tesco Bank and the Post Office have recently entered the personal current account market, and prospective entrants include Atom, Starling, Civilised Bank and OakNorth. But could the biggest competition to our traditional banks be hiding in plain sight? There are various factors [...]
Bank of England: Taylor Wimpey, Persimmon and Barratt Developments share prices rise after not-so-super Thursday August 6, 2015 Shares in housebuilders were boosted today after the Bank of England's historic "data dump" struck an unexpectedly dovish note. Taylor Wimpey shares rose 2.19 per cent to 200.5p per share, while Persimmon was 1.22 per cent higher at 2,079p per share and Barratt Developments was 1.4 per cent higher at 650p per share. Read more: Mortgage [...]
Super Thursday: Interest rate rise by the Bank of England could end the buy-to-let boom August 6, 2015 It looks like momentum to raise interest rates could be building over at the Bank of England (BoE), however a legal advice service has warned this could spell disaster for the UK's booming buy-to-let market. Minutes due to be released later today are expected to show between two to three members of the nine-strong rate-setting [...]
Super Thursday: Here what analysts think of today’s interest rate vote August 6, 2015 It's Super Thursday – the day the Bank of England unleashes a raft of data, from the latest decision on interest rates (spoiler: they left it at 0.5 per cent) to its quarterly inflation report, in an effort to increase transparency. The most anticipated section of the release was the the minutes of the latest [...]
Halifax house prices: UK house price growth continues shrinks to its lowest since December August 6, 2015 Growth in UK house prices dipped to 7.9 per cent in the year to July, the lowest figure since December 2014, figures published by Halifax this morning showed. On a quarterly basis, prices grew 2.4 per cent, lower than June's 3.3 per cent, while the monthly figure fell by 0.6 per cent – its first [...]
Super Thursday: Why business wants the Bank of England to hold its nerve August 5, 2015 As the UK’s economic recovery solidifies, the siren calls for interest rate rises are intensifying. Even the governor of the Bank of England – who no one would describe as a monetary policy hawk – has begun to prepare the ground for rate hikes in the not-too-distant future. With the US Federal Reserve set to [...]
Bank of England Super Thursday: Here’s everything you need to know August 5, 2015 Economists, analysts and investors across the City are busily preparing for Super Thursday. Rather than having a fortnight to digest various releases from the Bank of England, they'll be hit with the central bank's interest rate decision, minutes of the meeting and new economic forecasts all at once. The Bank ended what governor Mark Carney [...]
Mortgage rates start to climb off record lows August 4, 2015 MORTGAGE rates are creeping up, ending years of decline and raising affordability fears for young homeowners. Rates on a two-year fixed-rate mortgage currently go as low as 1.05 per cent, according to MoneySuperMarket. But the comparison website is urging people to remortgage as there are signs lenders are starting to raise rates. First Direct offered [...]