Recovery at risk as London house price boom outstrips wage growth, warns Moody’s August 5, 2014 Britain’s banking recovery is at risk from a housing crash, analysts warned yesterday – and that could throw the whole economy off track. The 17 per cent boom in London house prices is far outstripping wage growth, credit ratings agency Moody’s warned, and could come grinding to a halt. Rising interest rates could hit some [...]
UK rental prices: Is it time to stop buying? August 3, 2014 House prices have been on a surge in the last 12 months and despite a recent slowing of the market many first time buyers are finding themselves priced out of the market. The ONS released figures on rental prices this week that make for interesting reading and imply that an answer to high house prices could be [...]
In graphs: UK house prices rise just 0.1 per cent in July July 31, 2014 First it was the Land Registry telling us and now it's Nationwide: the upward spiral of house prices is coming to an end, at least for now. The latest figures from Nationwide show that the average house price in the UK rose by just 0.1 per cent, below expectations of a 0.5 per cent increase [...]
CNBC Comment: Why UK banks aren’t riding the recovery July 28, 2014 THE TIES between Britain’s banks and its economy have always been close. But they have seemed even closer in the post-banking bailout era. On Friday, when RBS rushed out its second quarter results a week early (which was rather odd in itself – don’t companies usually only rush out results if they’re either worse than [...]
As Halifax reports buyer confidence slipping, is the housing market finally cooling down? July 28, 2014 Howard Archer, chief European and UK economist at IHS Global Insight, says Yes. It’s not guaranteed that current signs that the housing market is cooling will prove lasting, but house price growth has likely peaked. The new regulations under the Mortgage Market Review have clearly had at least a temporary effect in taking some steam [...]
London house prices: Growth slumps July 25, 2014 The boom might be ending: London House Prices have stagnated in July, recording their first almost growth-free month since December 2012. According to data from Hometrack – which is a survey rather than indexed data – prices in the capital were unchanged at zero per cent for July, down from 0.5 per cent in June and 0.6 per cent [...]
Mixed messages on interest rates from Bank of England prompt criticism July 23, 2014 City economists clashed with Mark Carney yesterday, challenging the Bank of England governor’s insistence that “clear guidance” is being provided on when interest rates will finally begin to rise. The latest monetary policy committee (MPC) minutes yesterday showed another unanimous decision to hold bank rate at 0.5 per cent, even as Carney told a Glasgow [...]
Interest rate hikes risk a household debt tragedy if we don’t act now July 23, 2014 Beware the economist bearing forecasts. The only thing that’s ever certain about economic predictions is that they’ll turn out to be wrong. But this one’s nailed on: interest rates are going to rise. Hardly the riskiest punt – the current emergency base rate of 0.5 per cent can’t be sustained forever and, as yesterday’s Monetary [...]
Nationwide sets mortgage cap and tough new stress test for home buyers July 22, 2014 Nationwide has announced it is capping all new mortgages at 4.75 times the income of the borrower, and setting a tough new stress test to ward off concerns over interest rate rises. The bank will impose a new 6.99 per cent stress test, an increase on the existing rate, although a spokesperson would not reveal [...]
London house prices up £43,115 in six months as market soars July 22, 2014 The price of an average house in London has risen by £43,115 in the first six months of this year alone, according to astonishing figures from Zoopla, more than the annual salary of an average electrical engineer. By the property website’s reckoning, average property prices in London have risen 8.2 per cent between January and [...]