The subprime mortgage crisis isn’t over – UK taxpayers remain liable June 7, 2012 THE subprime mortgage crisis isn’t over. On the back of misguided government policies, taxpayers in the US and UK remain on the hook for huge sums. The ideology of affordable housing must end. It took just 13 years to destroy the American mortgage market with devastating effects for the rest of the world. The process began [...]
Pressures ease on new homeowners June 6, 2012 Falling interest rates have eased the pressure on mortgage holding twenty-somethings, according to a charity that helps people who are struggling to keep up with payments. The number of first time homeowners fell from 4,489 in 2009 to 3,008 in 2011, according to the Consumer Credit Counselling Service. “The number of homeowners in mortgage arrears [...]
Ireland agrees to austerity as it angles for a new bailout June 5, 2012 LAST week I travelled to Dublin to report on the Irish referendum. Irish voters in the end voted in favour of ratifying the Eurozone’s fiscal compact by a wide margin, but there was little celebration. In fact, Taoiseach Enda Kenny got straight on the phone to Angela Merkel to plead for a deal on the [...]
Home shortage drives prices up, says Nationwide May 31, 2012 House prices are stuck at a high level despite a lack of demand because of a low rate of building, Nationwide said yesterday, arguing that allowing more construction will reduce the pressure of housing costs on households. The building society’s data showed prices rose 0.3 per cent in May, but dropped 0.7 per cent on [...]
S&P shifts insurers’ ratings rule May 31, 2012 Standard & Poor’s will change the way it assigns global ratings to insurers, in part to increase the consideration of country risk in the way a company is evaluated, the credit ratings agency said yesterday. The changes will apply to all insurance lines except bond and mortgage. In a statement, S&P analysts said the “significant [...]
House prices edge up in May May 31, 2012 House prices rose slightly more than expected this month to leave prices broadly unchanged on a year ago against a backdrop of generally subdued demand, according to figures from mortgage lender Nationwide. House prices rose 0.3 per cent in May after a 0.3 per cent drop the month before – a marginally bigger rise than [...]
Mortgage approvals rise May 30, 2012 UK mortgage approvals for house purchase and mortgage lending were at their highest since January last month, but Britons repaid their credit card bills at the fastest rate in more than five years, Bank data showed on Wednesday. The central bank said mortgage approvals numbered 51,823 in April, up from 51,067 in March. Analysts had [...]
Europe’s shared currency shouldn’t entail Germany bankrolling a debt union May 22, 2012 GEORGE Osborne and François Hollande want Angela Merkel to support Eurobonds. These would pool debt issuance among Eurozone governments, allowing them all to fund their spending at the same borrowing rate. The more creditworthy Eurozone governments would thereby subsidise the spending of the less creditworthy. Merkel thinks that subsidising the spending of profligate governments is [...]
Mortgage loans plummet as tax break expires May 21, 2012 MORTGAGE lending plunged in April after the stamp duty holiday expired, industry data showed yesterday, while economists warned the underlying state of the housing market is weakening. Gross mortgage lending slumped from £12.6bn in March to £10.2bn in April – a 19 per cent fall to an 11-month low, according to data from the Council [...]
Squeeze on UK consumers is getting deeper May 20, 2012 LOW WAGE rises and high inflation increased the pressure on consumers in April and May, two reports showed today, threatening to keep the economy in the doldrums. Lloyds’ figures show spending power fell 0.9 per cent in April as incomes fell 1.6 per cent once inflation is taken into account. As a result, consumers have [...]