Appetite for borrowing stays low as mortgage market remains in slump February 23, 2011 BRITAIN’S slump in mortgage lending continued in January, the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) revealed yesterday. Mortgage approvals for house purchases stuck at 28,932 for the month – virtually unchanged from December’s figure of 28,907, which was close to a two-year low. Mortgage approvals tumbled 20.9 per cent year-on-year, to less than half the average monthly [...]
US home sales rise 2.7 per cent February 23, 2011 Sales of previously-owned US homes rose unexpectedly in January, but prices tumbled to the lowest in nearly nine years, a US industry group has said. The National Association of Realtors said sales climbed 2.7 per cent month on month to an annual rate of 5.36 million units from a downwardly revised 5.22 million pace. Compared [...]
Worries over banks and oil weigh on FTSE February 21, 2011 Nervousness over oil supply as violent crackdowns on protests in Libya continued combined with worries over banks’ liquidity to keep the FTSE in the red today. The FTSE 100 declined from about 9:00am and it finished 1.12 per cent down at 6,014.8. “Only a handful of blue-chips registered a positive change for the day – [...]
Lloyds pays £500m Halifax compensation February 21, 2011 Government-backed bank Lloyds will take a £500m charge over its handling of communications relating to some of its mortgages, after reaching a deal with the Financial Services Authority. Halifax, now part of the Lloyds group, said it has reached a voluntary agreement with the FSA to pay compensation to 300,000 mortgage customers after it admitted [...]
Soaring cost of living hits households February 20, 2011 HOUSEHOLD finances have taken a massive hit this month, according to a Markit index which saw inflation surge to an all time survey high. The cost of living measure showed 85 per cent of households reporting a rise in prices, Markit revealed today. Mortgage holders were particularly downbeat, as price pressures increase the chance of [...]
Why I don’t believe rates should be going up February 20, 2011 The Bank of England releases its latest minutes this week and so the great rate debate continues. Will anybody have joined Andrew Sentance and Martin Weale in voting to hike? Many argue raising domestic rates can’t curb imported inflation but Sentance points out it might strengthen sterling, which would help. In practice, every currency analyst [...]
Shame… greed… never mind the facts February 17, 2011 FILM INSIDE JOB Cert: 12A THIS much-hyped look at the financial crisis has already won the best documentary award from the Directors Guild of America and is seen as a strong contender to take an Oscar. So it’s a shame that a would-be fearless exposé of a supposedly rogue industry is a rehash of old [...]
Three ways to maximise your borrowing potential February 16, 2011 IT’S bonus season, and some high-earning City workers are likely to take advantage of the promise of rising top-end prices to snap up exclusive pads – provided they can get the necessary finance. The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) estimated earlier this year that bonuses would amount to £7bn. The final figure is [...]
Inflation hits 27-month high February 15, 2011 INFLATION reached its highest rate since November 2008 last month, as escalating price pressures and tax hikes continue to hammer households suffering from sluggish wage growth and rising unemployment. While inflation on the consumer price index (CPI) climbed 0.3 per cent to four per cent, the tax and price index (TPI) – which includes the [...]
Why firms need to be freed to spend February 15, 2011 DESPITE repeated promises from the coalition that it would tackle the burden of red tape, a raft of new employment rules are set to come into force over the next few years. As we report on page 1, these will cost UK firms billions of pounds in extra recurring costs, even on the government’s own [...]