I recreated all my favourite TV tropes, from crawling through pipes to being two kids in a trenchcoat
FSA: time for common sense on mortgages December 18, 2011 LENDERS will not face mandatory limits on how much they can lend to house-buyers, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) announced today, but will be expected to use more “common sense” when issuing mortgages. Draft rules out this morning argue that too many risky loans were made on the basis that house prices would always rise, [...]
Inflation hits incomes at record speed December 18, 2011 CONSUMERS are suffering at record rates, despite the small fall in inflation, according to separate pieces of research published today by Markit and Lloyds TSB. The Bank of England’s quarterly bulletin also identified ongoing falls in the standard of living. Spending power fell at its fastest rate this year in November, according to Lloyds TSB. [...]
Top London house prices rise by £1,200 every day December 13, 2011 PRIME central London prices are still soaring, according to the Knight Frank index, while the Financial Services Authority (FSA) yesterday revealed mortgage interest rates declined in the third quarter of 2011. Prime prices in central London rose one per cent in November and 12.6 per cent in the last 12 months, taking the average price [...]
Inflation falls to 4.8pc December 13, 2011 The (CPI) inflation figure in the UK fell to 4.8 per cent in November, down from five per cent the month before, according to the Office for National Statistics. Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation – which includes mortgage interest payments – fell to 5.2 per cent from 5.4 per cent. The fall was partly due [...]
Halifax: Housing market will stay weak December 12, 2011 WEAK economic growth and persistent high unemployment will hold down house prices through 2012, Halifax warned yesterday in its housing market outlook. Only record low interest rates will help stop the market falling further, the bank’s economists claimed, although mortgage funding pressures are expected to weaken this support. Prices will keep rising in London, according [...]
US mortgage applications jump December 7, 2011 Applications for US home mortgages jumped last week, recouping the previous week’s steep decline as interest rates continued to fall. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, spiked 12.8 per cent in last week. The MBA’s seasonally adjusted index of refinancing [...]
Banks and miners fuel FTSE gains December 7, 2011 Miners and banks fuelled a lift in the FTSE 100 as investor sentiment improved ahead of a crunch Eurozone summit. The blue chip index mirrored Asia and the US where markets recovered from the ratings blow from Standard & Poor’s, which threatened to downgrade 15 nations, including Germany. There is mounting optimism that Eurozone leaders [...]
House prices fall again in weak market December 6, 2011 HOUSE prices fell in November, reversing October’s gain as the market remained unpredictably choppy, Halifax announced yesterday. The bank’s monthly house price index showed a fall of 0.9 per cent in the month, taking the annual fall to one per cent and the quarterly decline to 0.6 per cent. The fall compares with a 1.2 [...]
Downgrade bombshell puts brakes on FTSE gains December 6, 2011 The brakes were slammed on the recovery in European markets this morning after ratings agency Standard and Poor’s warned 15 Eurozone countries – including Germany – that they were teetering on the edge of a downgrade. Asian stocks and the euro fell after S&P piled pressure on a plan to solve the region’s debt crisis [...]
Central bank independence won’t last December 5, 2011 SLOWLY but surely, the case for central bank independence is being undone. It may not look like it, with central bankers being afforded even greater powers than before the recession, but we are probably at the high watermark of their influence and autonomy. At some stage, as it becomes clear that monetary policy has turned [...]