Wages to overtake prices this year as squeeze on Brits eases April 14, 2014 PAY WILL finally rise faster than inflation this year, at last ending the long squeeze on British incomes, an influential group of economists has predicted today. Wages will rise by 1.7 per cent over the year while prices will increase by 1.6 per cent, the EY Item Club forecasts. As a result the UK’s economic [...]
Crazed global investors have become gluttons for punishment April 10, 2014 CREDITORS are strange beasts: they appear to have virtually zero memory, to be gluttons for punishment and to embrace rewards for failure. There can be no other possible explanation for Greece’s astonishingly successful return to the bond markets yesterday – apart, that is, from the fact that there is clearly far too much cash burning [...]
London Report: Housebuilders help FTSE to a modest bounce April 9, 2014 BRITAIN’S blue-chip stock index staged a technical bounce yesterday, helped by a rally in housebuilders as analysts flagged buying opportunities in shares that have underperformed recently. The FTSE 100 had shed 1.6 per cent over the previous two days. However, charts showed the trend for the index remained up and investors were still prepared to [...]
What you need to know before the US open April 9, 2014 US markets are expected flat today, as investors await minutes from the Federal Reserve. The notes from its last meeting will be released later, with investors hoping they’ll provide further indication of how quickly the bank will raise interest rates. Earlier, data showed mortgage applications fell for the third week in a row last week. [...]
Post Office offers 95pc mortgage April 7, 2014 The Post Office yesterday unveiled its new range of mortgages using the Help to Buy loan guarantee scheme. Using the government support it will offer 95 per cent mortgages to house buyers with small deposits saved up. Its two-year loans will be on offer with an interest rate beginning at 4.95 per cent. The new [...]
House prices see third drop in 15 months April 4, 2014 House prices fell 1.1 per cent in March, according to the Halifax House Price Index. The fall marks only the third monthly drop in 15 months. Halifax pointed out that the monthly movements can be volatile and cited the three month-on-three month measure as a more reliable guide for underlying trends. House prices in the [...]
UK’s debt burden is falling – but the crisis is merely postponed April 3, 2014 BRITAIN’S debt burden is falling. Yes, you’ve read that right: the UK is finally deleveraging. But there is a catch: debt hasn’t fallen enough even though we are already nearing the end of the deleveraging cycle. Over the next few years, we are likely to go on another borrowing binge. The end result could be [...]
Homeowners’ equity injections into housing market near sixth year April 3, 2014 Homeowners injected £10.6bn of equity into the housing market in the final quarter of 2013, as very low savings interest rates continue to make it easier for people to pay down their mortgages. The figures from the Bank of England show the quarter to be the 23rd successive net housing equity injection, but the figure [...]
Economists tell Carney to hike interest rates in 2014 April 2, 2014 THE BRITISH economy is in danger of overheating if interest rates are not increased this year, which could lead to a new boom and bust cycle, economists warned yesterday. The UK’s rapid recovery has pushed down unemployment so rapidly that there is little spare capacity left, according to Legal and General’s James Carrick. If nothing [...]
Shock February drop in lending for mortgages March 31, 2014 MORTGAGE lending dipped during February, according to surprising official figures from the Bank of Lending, marking the first monthly drop in a year. There were 70,309 mortgages approved by financial institutions in February, down by more than 6,000 from January’s figure, which was the highest in six years, going back to the onset of the [...]