To nest or invest is the crucial decision buyers must make September 9, 2012 FOR most, buying a property is likely to be the most expensive purchase that they will ever make. As such, one of the key decisions that buyers face is where to buy their property. The average price of a London property currently stands at £302,000, according to Nationwide. But the performance of house prices have [...]
Consumers hit by housing market woes July 19, 2012 MORTGAGE lending dived in June, while private rents climbed for the third month in a row, according to data released yesterday by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) and today by LSL property services. Gross mortgage lending was down five per cent at £11.9bn, compared to £12.5bn in May and £12.6bn in June last year, [...]
Retail gloom as UK stays at home February 17, 2013 SHOPPERS have been deserting the UK’s struggling retailers since the start of the year, adding to gloom in the sec- tor as sales fall for the first time in years and well-established firms col- lapse into administration. Total UK retail footfall sunk 4.6 per cent over the year to January, data from the British Retail [...]
RAPID RESPONSES July 18, 2012 In praise of Mervyn [Re: Somebody needs to guard the City of London’s guardians, yesterday] To me the story comes across a little differently. The recent facts on Libor point to regulators knowing that the rate was rigged, but doing nothing – or at least nothing in a timely fashion. But Mervyn King succeeded where our [...]
The ideas emerging from Lib Dem conference dissolve under scrutiny September 24, 2012 SOMETIMES, it’s hard not to feel rather sorry for the Liberal Democrats. After the public relations disaster of Nick Clegg’s toe-curling apology on tuition fees last week, the party faithful have gathered in Brighton only to be battered by violent storms. The Lib Dem leadership was hoping to pilot a course to sunnier political climes [...]
June house prices in fastest drop since October July 10, 2012 British house prices fell last month at their fastest pace since October as demand failed to pick up and the number of properties being put up for sale dropped off, a survey showed on Tuesday. The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors’ (RICS) seasonally adjusted house price balance fell to -22 from a downwardly revised -17. [...]
S&P 500 hits fresh five year closing high January 22, 2013 US bank and commodity shares led the Standard & Poor’s 500 to a fresh five-year closing high yesterday on hopes that the global economy continues to mend. The Dow Jones industrial average also ended at a five-year high. The market also gained on signals that Republican leaders in the US House of Representatives aim today [...]
3i targets more sell-offs after £615m disposal February 12, 2013 BRITISH investment giant 3i yesterday sold its plastic equipment business Mold-Masters to US rival Milacron for C$975m (£615m), pleasing investors who want the business to pay down its debt pile. Proceeds from the deal will be around £219m – 2.6 times the initial £84m investment 3i made in October 2007. The company said there had [...]
Maybe it’s because you’re a Londoner: The capital is optimistic about prices September 9, 2012 Take a step back before deciding if your glass is half full or empty IT IS often hard to move for the number of property analysts discussing price movements in the housing market. But what do UK households think? The Knight Frank/Markit House Price Sentiment index sets out to answer that question. Every month, we [...]
Stamp duty deadline stimulates surge in March mortgage loans May 16, 2012 MORTGAGE lending soared throughout the housing market in March, industry data showed yesterday, as the stamp duty holiday fuelled an escalation in buying. First-time buyers were exempt from stamp duty on properties worth under £250,000 until the end of the month resulting in a 74 per cent monthly rise in the number of first time [...]