ONE IN TEN HIT BY NEGATIVE EQUITY June 11, 2009 MORE than one in 10 British homeowners have been plunged into negative equity, with their property now worth less than the value of their mortgages, the Bank of England will warn today. Writing in its latest Quarterly Bulletin, the Bank’s analysts said that the collapse in prices since the peak of the housing market in [...]
Don’t expect miracles in housing market June 11, 2009 IT is beginning to look as if house prices won’t be falling much further. This won’t be of any use to the one in ten Brits that have already been plunged into negative equity, however; and even if the market reaches bottom this year, it will struggle in 2010. We must hope, for the sake [...]
House prices see surprise jump in May June 4, 2009 HOUSE prices unexpectedly rose by 2.6 per cent in May at their fastest monthly rate since October 2002, according to Halifax’s house price survey released yesterday, although economists warned that house prices still had some way to go before bottoming out. Last month’s rise soundly beat analysts’ expectations of a fall of one per cent [...]
Money supply is starting to grow again June 2, 2009 FOR all the much-deserved carnage in Westminster yesterday, the economy is gradually recovering. This doesn’t mean we will enjoy a V-shaped bounce-back: growth, when it returns, will have to contend with massive fiscal tightening to tackle the exploding budget deficit; interest rates will also have to go up, dealing the convalescing housing market a second [...]
B&B suffers on loan losses June 1, 2009 BRADFORD and Bingley will lose up to £700m on mortgage defaults this year and expects an increase in the rate of loan losses, its chief executive Richard Pym said yesterday. Pym said the number of borrowers more than three months behind on their mortgage had grown from the 4.6 per cent figure it announced in [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 31, 2009 THE SUNDAYSTHE SUNDAY TIMES SKY SAYS NO TO SETANTASports organisations including the Scottish Premier League may be forced to stomach deeper-than-expected cuts to their TV income after shareholders in Setanta failed to stump up enough cash to keep the broadcaster alive. Setanta’s financial position was so parlous this weekend that it asked arch-rival BSkyB for [...]
Why the public rejects car firm bailouts May 31, 2009 WE are almost there. Barring a last minute hiccup, General Motors (GM) will enter into bankruptcy today. Like Chrysler, it will be using section 363 of the US code, which ought to allow it to reemerge in a few months having shed assets, liabilities and shareholders, and with the government owning the bulk of the [...]
The Hex Files May 28, 2009 DRAG ME TO HELLCert: 15 BACK in the mists of time – or the early Eighties – Sam Raimi invigorated the schlock horror genre with the first Evil Dead movies, before moving on to hit pay-dirt with Spiderman. At the moment, fifteenth-rate horror films are 10-a-penny, the genre disappearing up its own, highly ironic backside. [...]
Home loans at lowest level since 2001 May 27, 2009 MORTGAGE lending sunk to its lowest level for eight years in April, data showed yesterday. Net lending by the major banks was £2.7bn during April, down from £3.4bn in March – the lowest figure since March 2001, according to the British Bankers Association (BBA). However, the number of mortgages approved for house purchases actually rose [...]
Sterling’s long decline comes to an end May 27, 2009 IT may seem strange given the dire state of Britain’s public finances but sterling is starting to regain some of its strength, especially against the dollar. Yesterday the pound rose above $1.60 for the first time in seven months, boosted by better services sector sentiment and mortgage approvals. Sterling is now trading well above its [...]