UK house prices down 2.9 per cent in a month, London’s drop 5.9 per cent August 18, 2014 After the great heating comes the cooling: according to the latest figures from Rightmove the property market is slowing down. House prices across England and Wales were down 2.9 per cent, constituting the biggest drop Rightmove has ever seen in August. London prices, forever ahead of the curve, fell by 5.9 per cent. Every borough in [...]
Northern Rock launches Societe Generale toxic debt suit August 14, 2014 Northern Rock is suing Societe Generale, alleging the French investment bank knowingly sold it toxic mortgage assets dressed up as valuable securities. The so-called bad bank part of the failed British lender was given permission by a New York judge to launch the suit after he kicked out SocGen’s attempt to get the case scrapped. [...]
Home repossessions slide to lowest since crisis ahead of interest rate hike August 14, 2014 The lowest number of homes were repossessed in the first half of 2014 than in any six month period since 2006, according to figures released yesterday. The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) yesterday showed that 11,800 homes were repossessed in the first half of the year, down from 15,600 in the first half of 2013. [...]
Top five tips for buying property at auction for beginners August 14, 2014 There’s more than one way to buy a property, but a significant proportion of buyers still favour making a trip to the estate agent or, increasingly, searching online to find their next home. For years, savvy property investors have found bargains in auction houses, where a vast range of buildings, from period houses in need [...]
When will UK interest rates rise? Not anytime soon according to MPC member David Miles August 14, 2014 Don't expect the Bank of England (BoE) to be raising interest rate anytime soon. That is the message from monetary policy committee (MPC) member David Miles this morning. Miles said that a subdued outlook on inflation means the BoE will not be pushed into increasing the interest rate, which has been held at 0.5 [...]
How to position your portfolio for the coming base rate hike – Investment Comment August 12, 2014 Hamlet wasn’t talking about the next move for interest rates when he said, “if it be not now, yet it will come – the readiness is all.” But the advice is sound. Although today’s quarterly inflation report may reveal some clues, we still don’t know when the first hike in UK base rates will [...]
As London house prices show signs of cooling, are fears of a bubble overplayed? August 12, 2014 Rob Wood, chief UK economist at Berenberg Bank, says Yes. Rapid rises in house prices would be a threat if they turned into an uncontrollable bubble accompanied by a rapid debt build-up. So it is good news that London house price inflation seems to be slowing down. And that slowdown has its roots in action [...]
Mortgage approvals for first-time buyers rise as UK house price growth slows August 11, 2014 Mortgage lending is still being dominated by customers looking to buy houses rather than remortgage, and first-time buyers are on the up. According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) total gross lending for June was up six per cent on May and 20 per cent up on June 2013, totalling £17.9bn. £4.2bn of that [...]
As UK house prices soar, sales hit highs last seen in boom years August 8, 2014 Housing sales are back at levels last seen at the hight of the boom in 2007, LSL Property Services said today. Prices have been surging over the past two years, particularly in London. And the number of sales has now caught up with the booming demand for property. In July, 90,000 homes were sold in [...]
UK house prices up 10.2 per cent – five graphs that show the rise August 6, 2014 Are they up or are they down? Halifax has released its latest house price figures which show a 10.2 per cent annual change and a 1.4 per cent rise in the last month, beating expectations. There has been a lot of speculation that the market is slowing, in part due to measures to regulate mortgage [...]