New mortgage commitments climb in third quarter of 2018 December 11, 2018 New mortgage commitments in the third quarter of 2018 were 4.7 per cent higher than last year, according to new statistics from the Bank of England. Meanwhile, the value of residential property mortgage loans jumped to £1,43bn in the third quarter, rising 3.2 per cent on the same period a year ago. The share of new lending [...]
The pros, cons and incentives behind the SPAC-craze sweeping markets April 14, 2021 There have been 378 initial public offerings (IPOs) in the US in the first three months of 2021. That’s more than in any full calendar year between 2003 and 2019. The $139 billion raised so far this year is more than two and a half times the yearly average over this period. They already have [...]
Coronavirus: What to do if your house is on the market, and how prices might be affected March 27, 2020 The spread of Coronavirus has taken us all by surprise, with the unprecedented UK-wide lockdown posing a whole host of questions about how life’s milestones should be handled. Today, the government published guidance stating that people should avoid conducting viewings and delay moving house, even if the contracts have been exchanged. But what can you [...]
UK house prices: Post-election surge breaks records January 20, 2020 The decisive result of the General Election sparked a record-breaking surge in UK house prices in December and January, in the latest sign that the UK housing market has been revitalised by a “Boris bounce” There was a 2.3 per cent monthly surge in the average price of property coming to the market between 8 [...]
Why caution on Hong Kong is paying dividends October 24, 2019 Prudent investors will have been cautious on Hong Kong for some time, says Henderson Far East Income Fund Manager Mike Kerley; with Asia’s income growth coming from elsewhere. For anyone with an interest in the Asian growth story, the scenes in Hong Kong are very worrying. While no one could have foreseen the scale and [...]
Trading the covid commodities contango May 26, 2020 In the last 12 years, the oil market has thrice collapsed and twice recovered. But this latest downturn, driven by a covid-tainted drop in demand and a Russo-Saudi price war, has analysts scratching their heads. Can the market rebound from this? The price of US oil turned negative for the first time in history last [...]
Stamp duty holiday: Housebuilder and estate agent stocks jump July 8, 2020 Housebuilders and estate agent stocks jumped this afternoon after the chancellor announced a stamp duty holiday in a bid to get the UK property market moving. Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that the stamp duty threshold would increase from £125,000 to £500,000 until March next year to boost activity after the coronavirus lockdown. He said it [...]
London house prices: Rising demand pushes up property prices March 12, 2020 London house prices increased in February due to rising demand for homes in the capital, according to new research. In total 39 per cent of London contributors to a survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors reported a rise in house prices last month, the highest amount since May 2014. Additionally, 27 per cent [...]
ETP and gold flows December 4, 2020 Twenty-one percent of all dollars in circulation were printed in 2020 a number that tends to be mentioned a lot by monetary policy doomsayers and Bitcoin maximalists alike; on the other side of the fence, arguments are that inflation is nowhere to be seen, let alone hyperinflation. With interest rates expected to remain near record [...]
UK construction activity falls for first time in 11 months March 4, 2019 UK construction activity declined in February for the first time in eleven months led by a drop in commercial building work. Civil engineering work also fell but residential construction continued to grow for the 13th consecutive month, according to the IHS Markit / CIPS Construction purchasing managers’ index (PMI). The survey of businesses also found [...]