London housing bubble inflates further August 16, 2013 LONDON house prices soared to more than 12-times the average income in June, official figures showed yesterday, as economists warned the boom could prove unsustainable. Government policies to keep interest rates low and help first time buyers onto the property ladder are pumping up a bubble, analysts said. The average price in London shot up [...]
Homebuilder confidence beats expectations August 15, 2013 Confidence among US housebuilders rose unexpectedly in August, according to data from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The NAHB’s housing market index measures home sales and expected home building in the future, and rose to 59 from 56 the month before. Analysts had expected to see a slight fall to 56. Paul Diggle, [...]
UK markets defy Carney August 14, 2013 MARK Carney, the Bank of England’s new governor, is increasingly failing to convince markets that he will keep rates on hold for three years. His new forward guidance and pledge that base rates would remain low for three years, a revolutionary shift announced last week, was meant to push down market rates to lower [...]
London housing bubble inflates further August 13, 2013 LONDON house prices soared to more than 12-times the average income in June, official figures showed yesterday, as economists warned the boom could prove unsustainable. Government policies to keep interest rates low and help first time buyers onto the property ladder are pumping up a bubble, analysts said. The average price in [...]
New York Report: Shares lifted by better macro data and Apple August 13, 2013 US STOCKS rose yesterday after strong economic data boosted confidence, while Apple bolstered the Nasdaq after billionaire investor Carl Icahn took to Twitter to reveal a long position in the stock. Rising US retail sales in July, combined with a higher Zew German sentiment index and Eurozone industrial production, painted a rosier picture of the [...]
Investment Comment: Investing in a low interest climate August 13, 2013 THE BANK of England’s decision to link interest rates to unemployment was widely expected. Accordingly, interest rates could remain at all-time lows until at least the middle of 2016. So what does this mean for investors? WINNERS AND LOSERS Savers will be the worst hit by the pledge of three more years of low interest [...]
What forward guidance means for mortgages August 13, 2013 LAST week, the Bank of England pledged to keep interest rates at 0.5 per cent at least until unemployment falls below 7 per cent – a threshold it expects to be met in mid-2016. Assuming the Bank sticks to the promise, and there a host of caveats in the announcement, this is good news for [...]
The Bank’s low interest rates will block our path to sustainable recovery August 12, 2013 THE Bank of England wants to secure sustainable growth and reduce unemployment by promising to keep rates near zero for three more years. Its new “forward guidance” commits to maintain rates at current emergency levels, even in the face of economic growth and above-target inflation. The success of this strategy depends on encouraging more lending [...]
Buy-to-let loans surge to 5-year high in fresh boom August 8, 2013 LENDING to buy-to-let landlords has soared to its highest level in nearly five years thanks to strong tenant demand and increased mortgage availability. Lenders advanced 40,000 mortgages worth £5.1bn in the three months to the end of June, up 21 per cent in value on the previous quarter and the highest since 2008, according to [...]
City Moves for 9 August 2013 | Who’s switching jobs August 8, 2013 Clayton Euro Risk The risk management company has announced the appointment of Konstantine Pastras as client development and strategy director. Pastras specialises in residential mortgage-backed securities. He has previously held various roles at DBRS Ratings, Fitch Ratings and Investec. Financial Conduct Authority The regulator has appointed four directors in its supervision division. William Amos was previously [...]