Top regulator to keep its eye on hedgie rate risk September 25, 2013 THE BANK of England’s new superregulator will keep a close eye on potential vulnerabilities at hedge funds and in the UK housing market, it said yesterday, despite playing down the risk of a housing bubble. Hedge funds may be particularly vulnerable to sharp upward movements in long-term interest rates, the Bank’s financial policy committee (FPC) [...]
House sales in US pushed up by rising interest rates September 25, 2013 The number of homes bought in the US in August has jumped up 7.9 per cent to 421,000 exceeding expectations of 420,000 and a July figure of 390,000 (revised from 394,000). Despite Fed uncertainty, US residents have still bought more houses, with rising mortgage rates prompting sales. The figure still remains well below the 700,000 [...]
Mortgage deals strike a four year high in August September 24, 2013 THE SURGING housing market has pushed mortgage lending to a four-year peak, according to the British Bankers’ Association (BBA), while lending to businesses remains anaemic. The BBA said that last month its members approved 38,228 mortgages, an increase of just over 25 per cent from the same month last year, highlighting the recent boost to activity [...]
RBS pins hopes of turnaround to profits on rising interest rates September 24, 2013 RISING interest rates would quickly make RBS billions of pounds, the bank’s finance chief revealed yesterday, raising hopes that the economic recovery will boost the taxpayer-backed lender. If rates are hiked one percentage point, incomes would rise £450m in the first year, £640m in the second and £860m in the third. And a gradual rise of [...]
Consumer confidence and personal deposits up as business borrowing increases September 24, 2013 (BBA) Personal deposits have risen by almost five per cent over the year to August, says the BBA. (Release) BBA statistics director, David Dooks said: These figures suggest that consumer confidence is growing. For the first time in four years, annual growth in household borrowing on credit cards and personal loans has turned positive and [...]
Number of mortgages in the UK rise to December 2009 high September 24, 2013 The number of mortgages issued by the BBA was 38.2k in August. The figure was down on expections of 38.6k, following July's 37.2k, but still at a high last seen in December 2009. UK unsecured lending is rising, the BBA have said, although 'There was a fall in total business borrowing levels in August.' Net [...]
Buy-to-let specialist Paragon raises £273m in mortgage sale September 23, 2013 SPECIALIST lender Paragon completed a securitisation transaction yesterday, raising funds in the market to finance more lending, the group announced. Special purpose vehicle Paragon Mortgages 18 was made up of three tranches of assets, and came in at a total of £273m. The vast majority of the deal was made up of triple-A rated notes [...]
The Fed’s taper surprise highlights a wider problem with monetary policy September 19, 2013 THE US Federal Reserve’s surprise decision not to scale back its stimulus programme on Wednesday night should not perhaps have been so unexpected. Back in 2010, in those early days of quantitative easing by the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England, I suggested that both institutions would be tempted to make sure the [...]
Demand pushes builder salaries to over £40,000 September 17, 2013 DEMAND for new homes is so high that construction workers can attract salaries of more than £40,000, the boss of housebuilder Galliford Try said yesterday. Chief executive Greg Fitzgerald told reporters that it was also becoming tougher for the company to source building materials. “We have made excellent progress as a group in the financial [...]
Mortgage rates could be on the rise September 17, 2013 With rising costs and house price highs spooking homebuyers, shop around for a good deal NEWS that house prices in England have hit record highs – now 0.9 per cent higher than their previous peak in January 2008 – has heightened fears that the government’s Help to Buy subsidised mortgage scheme is fuelling a housing [...]