Mortgage Advice Bureau IPO: Housing boom helps broker’s stock flotation November 11, 2014 The Mortgage Advice Bureau (Mab) defied choppy markets to price its initial public offering (IPO) yesterday. It has achieved healthy growth this year on the back of a strong housing market, and buyers looking for more help on loans as the prospects of an interest rate rise grow. The loan brokerage is set [...]
Euro at two-year low after hint of early Xmas present November 6, 2014 THE EURO fell to a two-year low and stocks were buoyed yesterday after European Central Bank (ECB) chief Mario Draghi signalled that quantitative easing could soon become a reality. “The Governing Council has tasked ECB staff and the relevant committees with ensuring the timely preparation of further measures to be implemented,” Draghi said during his [...]
Buying slows as house prices fall in October November 6, 2014 THE HOUSING market is slowing down as high prices and strict mortgage regulations put off buyers. The average house price fell by 0.4 per cent in October, according to figures released yesterday by Halifax. Monthly data can be volatile, but growth in the three months to October also slowed to 0.8 per cent – the [...]
UK house prices: Growth dips to 8.8 per cent as mortgage cooling measures take their toll November 6, 2014 "Cooling measures" introduced by the Bank of England earlier this year have taken their toll on house prices. Annual growth slid to 8.8 per cent in October, figures by Halifax showed this morning, down from 9.6 per cent in September. The quarterly figure painted an even gloomier picture, with growth of just 0.8 per cent [...]
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky: “We want to be regulated because to regulate us would be to recognise us” November 4, 2014 Six-year-old spare room rental app Airbnb has enjoyed an almost meteoric rise – along with Uber, it has become the tip of the spear of the so-called "sharing economy". The firm reached a $10bn (£6bn) valuation in April as part of a fundraising round where it received a $450m investment led by TPG Capital. Peter [...]
UK house price growth may be slowing, but Persimmon is bullish November 4, 2014 Persimmon has enjoyed the fruits of 2014’s high house-price inflation, but there were signs in its third quarter figures that a cooling market is beginning to take its toll. The UK’s largest house builder by market capitalisation announced a 12 per cent increase in forward sales totalling £696m in the three months to the end [...]
Save money when buying overseas October 31, 2014 Whether it’s a villa in the sun-kissed Côte d'Azur, a chalet in the Alps or a pied-à-terre in Paris, France has long been a favourite destination for second home owners. And that desire shows no sign of abating, as trends in the French capital are showing: “In Paris, foreign buyers are now accounting for nearly [...]
New data shows housing market is slowing down October 30, 2014 HOUSE price growth continued to slow down in October, adding to the view that the market is experiencing a broad-based cooling. Prices grew by nine per cent year-on-year in October, according to figures released yesterday by Nationwide. Although the annual growth is high, it is slower than the 11.8 per cent seen in June when [...]
UK house prices rise 0.5 per cent in October, but longer-term trend is slowing October 30, 2014 Are house prices rocketing or is their growth slowing? It's getting confusing – according to Nationwide, the unpredictable UK housing market rose in October, with prices up 0.5 per cent month on month, after they fell 0.1 per cent in September. But the annual figure, a more reliable measure, slowed to nine per cent. As [...]
As QE ends in the US, has it changed the world for the better? October 29, 2014 Sam Bowman, research director at the Adam Smith Institute, says Yes. Many people, including me, expected QE to cause uncontrollable inflation and end in disaster. How wrong we were. The US and the UK, which did QE, are growing healthily. The Eurozone, which didn’t, is in ruins. QE helps to keep nominal spending steady during [...]