UK property: South east overtakes London as region with fastest-growing house prices October 20, 2014 The south east has overtaken London as the region with the fastest-growing house prices, figures published today show – despite the average asking price in the capital hitting £596,000 in the year to October. According to research by Rightmove and Oxford Economics, prices in the capital grew 9.6 per cent during the period, while [...]
UK house prices down 2.9 per cent in a month, London’s drop 5.9 per cent August 18, 2014 After the great heating comes the cooling: according to the latest figures from Rightmove the property market is slowing down. House prices across England and Wales were down 2.9 per cent, constituting the biggest drop Rightmove has ever seen in August. London prices, forever ahead of the curve, fell by 5.9 per cent. Every borough in [...]
Scottish independence: Uncertainty over the referendum could dampen UK house price growth September 15, 2014 House prices across England and Wales were up 7.9 per cent over the last 12 months, according to data from Rightmove. The company, which surveys a sample accounting for 90 per cent of estate agents, does not seasonally adjust its figures and so one-off monthly trends are difficult to analyse. Nevertheless, the 0.9 per cent [...]
In charts: UK house price growth slows but first-time buyers still feel the pinch December 16, 2014 First-time buyers are paying 12 per cent more this year than at the same point last year, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The ONS revealed house prices were flirting with stagnation in October, when they increased just 0.1 per cent on a month-on-month basis. After yesterday’s data from Rightmove showed [...]
Best of the Brokers for 25 September 2014 September 24, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com RIO TINTO Morgan Stanley has upgraded to “overweight” from “equal-weight”, with the target price raised to 4,000p from 3,540p. The broker thinks Rio Tinto is restoring the operating and investment disciplines that guided it through the decades before the supercycle, with cash flow [...]
Zoopla: Unusually for a tech stock, this one’s looking as safe as houses – Bottom Line August 14, 2014 Being old and boring, I spent last Friday mooching around a somewhat less-than-salubrious corner of our city, looking for a flat that I could buy as an investment. I dropped into two estate agents to ask questions about the area because, back in my day, that was how one did things. The first agent was [...]
Manufacturing figures point to slower growth – London Report November 2, 2014 MANUFACTURING figures due out today are likely to show a loss of momentum in the UK economy’s growth. The manufacturing purchasing managers’ survey for October is forecast to sit at 51.5, the same as for September and weaker than the rates of 52.2 in August and 54.7 in July. A reading of 50 shows no [...]
Best of the Brokers for 26 August 2014 August 25, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com RIGHTMOVE Westhouse Securities has reduced its rating to “Neutral” from “Add”, with the target price at 2,585p. The broker is encouraged by positive trading momentum and management’s confident outlook for the remainder of the year, but downgraded its rating on recent share price [...]
The average London house price is now £514,000: But how is the rest of the UK faring? October 14, 2014 UK house prices are up 11.7 per cent in the year to August, the same as the year to July but how much are they being dragged up by London? Eleven point seven per cent growth seems big enough, given low wage growth and inflation of 1.2 per cent. But what about the context? According [...]
Labour plans to double number of first-time buyers October 16, 2014 The Labour party will set out plans to give first-time buyers top priority by handing more powers to local communities in England for new house building. The party will pledge to double the number of first-time buyers over the next 10 years should it be returned to office. Furthermore, Labour wants 200,0000 homes a year [...]