General Election 2015: Unemployment is driving some young voters from the Conservatives to Labour March 12, 2015 Some young people who voted for the Conservatives in the last general election are choosing to vote Labour this time, according to Reuters. The news agency spoke to a sample of first-time voters in 2010, and tracked them down again this month to find out how their opinions had changed in the run up to [...]
London house prices: Foxtons share price dips as slowing luxury market takes its toll March 11, 2015 The figures Upmarket estate agent Foxtons had a topsy-turvy year in 2014, with the gradual slowing in London house price growth dragging down its share price. Earlier in the year when prices were still rising fast the skies were only blue. Chief executive Nic Budden said it best: last year was a year of "contrasting [...]
Slump in home loans expected to be temporary March 10, 2015 Agents and brokers are expecting a pick up in mortgage lending this year after a sluggish end to 2014. Meanwhile, one of the UK’s most-watched house price indicators has changed hands. Gross mortgage lending was 8.1 per cent lower in the final three months of 2014 than in the three months to September, according to [...]
These three groups are most at risk from an interest rate hike March 10, 2015 In March 2009 the Bank of England (BoE) cut its main interest rate to 0.5 per cent. It's stayed there ever since. Borrowers have benefited from low interest rates which have cut the amount they pay to service their debts. On the flip side, savers have seen paltry returns on their investments, making it even [...]
Spanish house prices climb at their fastest pace for six years March 9, 2015 House prices in Spain are rising at their fastest rate since 2008, official statistics showed yesterday. Residential property prices climbed by 1.8 per cent in the final three months of 2014 compared with the same period a year earlier, according to Spain’s national statistical office. For 2014 as a whole, prices were 0.3 [...]
Bank of England tight lipped on liquidity market probe March 5, 2015 Threadneedle Street was on lockdown yesterday, as Bank of England officials declined to give any details of potential fraud around its liquidity operations in the crisis years. A spokesperson for the Bank said it would not answer questions on speculation over which of the Bank’s schemes the alleged fraud relates to. “We are not getting [...]
Scant supply of homes pushes prices higher March 5, 2015 RISING incomes, stamp duty changes and a supply shortage are putting upward pressure on house prices, new figures show. The average house price rose 8.3 per cent in February compared to February 2014, according to data released yesterday by mortgage lender Halifax. It marks a slight slowdown in growth from the 8.5 per cent year-on-year [...]
The non-bank of Facebook, AliBay, and AI: The future of global fintech March 5, 2015 The global fintech industry has seen some remarkable developments since we launched Level39 two years ago. But what of the future? I’d like to suggest two possibilities for what might happen, and challenge one that, contrary to some current thinking, I don’t think will. FACEBOOK: THE NON-BANK BANK More than any other social media platform, [...]
General election jitters? UK house prices fall off the boil in February March 5, 2015 The path to house price equilibrium is an undulating one. After a 1.9 per cent spike in January the average cost of a house fell by 0.3 per cent month-on-month in February, according to the latest data from Halifax. This put the price of the average home slightly lower at £192,372, with some analysts suspecting [...]
Earnings finally return to their pre-crisis levels March 3, 2015 INCOMES have finally recovered to pre-recession levels, new research reveals today. Projections from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) suggest average median household income in the year to April 2015 (2014-15) is at around the same level it was in 2007-08, before the recession. The figures are adjusted for changes in the prices of goods [...]