Foxton’s prepares for housing market slowdown in London August 27, 2014 Investors fled Foxton’s shares yesterday after the London property agent warned that it expected a slowdown in the housing market in the second half of the year. The company, which floated in September last year, said measures introduced by the Bank of England to temper mortgage lending and the expectation of a hike in interest [...]
London Report: Petrofac buoys FTSE but poor store data weighs on market August 27, 2014 BRITAIN’S top equity index yesterday climbed to its highest closing level in nearly two months, with oil and gas services company Petrofac buoyed by positive broker comments. However, supermarkets J Sainsbury and Tesco underperformed after weak sales data. The FTSE 100 index ended up 0.1 per cent, or 7.90 points, at 6,830.66 points. Petrofac rose [...]
RBS share price falls as it is fined £15m for mortgage advice failings August 27, 2014 Shares in Royal Bank of Scotland fell 0.5% in early trading on Wednesday, after it was fined £14.5m for “serious failings” in the way it advised customers about mortgage loans, in another blow for the embattled bank. The Financial Conduct Authority found a series of failings by the state-owned bank and its Natwest arm in [...]
Don’t panic! Standard and Poor insists bonds blamed for credit crunch pain are safe August 26, 2014 The complex and opaque structured bonds blamed for exacerbating the credit crunch have turned out to be relatively safe investments, credit ratings agency Standard and Poor’s insisted yesterday. Banks were criticised for taking portfolios of bad loans and wrapping them up into mortgage-backed securities before the crunch. They were then given high-quality ratings by S&P and others, [...]
UK property prices: Mortgage approvals fall as cooling measures take their toll August 26, 2014 Mortgage approvals fell in June as cooling measures introduced by the Bank of England took effect, figures by the British Bankers' Association (BBA) showed on Tuesday. The number of mortgages doled out fell to just under 42,800, from 43,200 in June. Gross mortgage borrowing also fell to £10.9bn in July from £11.1bn in June. But [...]
UK house prices may be rising, but it’s better to buy than to rent August 25, 2014 It is cheaper to handle the costs associated with buying a house rather than paying rent according to data from Halifax. While this fact is not new – Halifax's data suggests it's been the case since 2009 – it is interesting that despite a rise in house prices over the last year (up 10.2 per cent [...]
Rent or buy? First-time buyers in London save £1,000 a year compared to renting as mortgage rates remain low August 23, 2014 Londoners managing to jump on the property ladder are saving £984 a year by making mortgage repayments instead of paying rent as a result of low rates and rising rental prices. New home owners in the capital are pocketing more money than any other region along with first-time buyers in the West Midlands, saving £984 [...]
Bank of America’s $17bn mortgage settlement is biggest banking fine ever August 21, 2014 Bank of America was yesterday hit by the biggest banking fine ever, as US authorities charged the lender $16.6bn (£10bn) for mortgage fraud. The bank gave mortgages to customers who could not afford them, then packaged up the toxic loans and sold them on to investors and the US government under the pretence that they [...]
New York Report: Dow passes 17k as S&P breaks new record August 21, 2014 US STOCKS ended higher yesterday, with the S&P 500 at a record after a flurry of positive economic data, as investors hoped for signs from an annual meeting of central bankers that interest-rate hikes are not imminent. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 60.36 points, or 0.36 per cent, to rise above 17,000 points again. [...]
UK homeowners brace for interest rate hike with fixed mortgage payments August 20, 2014 Most homeowners in the south east are worried about the impact of an interest rate hike in the next 12 months, a Halifax study shows today. However, increasing numbers are preparing for the increase by fixing their mortgage payments. Halifax found 53 per cent of people in the south east were concerned about rates, while [...]