The corporate bond market is set for a record year — but also a dangerous and dysfunctional one August 26, 2020 2020 is going to be a record year for the corporate bonds market. New issue investment grade volume in the first half of the year exceeded $2.5 trillion. Records are also being broken in high-yield junk debt, despite a rising corporate default rate. Last week, the US primary market broke through $1.3 trillion of new [...]
Property of the Week: A Wapping warehouse where WWI soldiers’ toothpaste was made January 24, 2020 Located halfway between Bank and Canary Wharf, Wapping’s waterside is a favourite location for the swanky riverside apartments of young financial services types. But dial back the clock a hundred years and it was a far grittier affair, the landscape dominated by bustling docks and factory chimneys. This penthouse that has just come on the [...]
FTSE 100 and US stocks fall on fears of coronavirus second wave May 13, 2020 The FTSE 100 and US stocks have fallen as fears of a second wave of coronavirus infections spook traders and US-China tensions rise over the pandemic. The UK’s blue-chip stock index was 1.2 per cent lower in afternoon trading. This took the FTSE 100 below the 6,000 mark which it passed yesterday for only the [...]
Opinion: Would a People’s Vote inspire investors to take a punt on London or would it just cause more uncertainty? October 19, 2018 This weekend sees the People’s March come to London, with thousands of people set to take to the streets to demand a People’s Vote on the final Brexit deal. As a buying, I’m often asked about the impact of Brexit what the prospect of a People’s Vote could have on the prime London property market [...]
Focus On Wanstead: Families flock to ‘the Twickenham of East London’, where houses near green spaces have sold for seven digits February 15, 2019 There was a time when Wanstead, an unusually leafy spot of east London, was most famous for its Member of Parliament. They don’t come much more recognisable than Sir Winston Churchill, who served Wanstead from 1924 up to 1964 with a patch of absence in the middle for his Wilderness Years. But there’s one other [...]
Mortgage approvals jump to five-month high as subdued market picks up | City A.M. July 30, 2018 Mortgage approvals hit a five-month high in June as Britain’s housing market shows signs of recovery from a slowdown earlier this year. British lenders approved 65,619 mortgages in June, rising 1.5 per cent from 64,684 in May and reaching the highest level since January, according to data from the Bank of England (BoE). Meanwhile, the [...]
Department store chain Beales falls into administration January 20, 2020 Department store chain Beales has entered administration this morning, putting more than 1,000 jobs at risk. The retailer had been in crisis talks with potential buyers in a bid to stave off a collapse, however the company was unable to secure a deal. Professional services firm KPMG has been appointed as administrator, and the firm’s [...]
House prices drastically outpacing wage growth in UK cities as Oxford named least affordable place to live February 2, 2019 House prices in UK cities are outpacing wage growth by 11 per cent, meaning home affordability is at its lowest level since 2007, according to new data from Lloyds Bank. The report reveals that the average price of a house in a city in Britain has risen from £180,548 in 2013 to its highest ever level of £248,233 [...]
Hammond has taken the first tentative steps towards fixing the housing crisis October 31, 2018 How do you solve the housing crisis in a single Budget? You can’t, of course – not with Brexit looming and a Prime Minister demanding that you both signal the end of austerity and reduce the UK’s national debt at the same time. But housing policy is the one single issue that personally and radically [...]
Sales tick up as pre-Brexit buying spree gives summer boost to housing market August 19, 2019 Househunters hoping to lock in a deal ahead of the government’s Brexit deadline have driven a surprise buying spree this summer, giving life to the property market’s quietest season of the year. Agreed house sales in August rose 6.1 per cent from the same month in 2018, rising to the highest level at this time [...]