House price slump not finished yet March 6, 2012 HOUSE prices fell again in February, reversing January’s rise and continuing the slow downward trend of the year. Prices dropped 0.5 per cent in the month, following January’s 0.6 per cent rise, taking the average price to £160,118. Over the last three months, prices are down 1.1 per cent, and 1.9 per cent on February [...]
House sales up 23% on last year February 21, 2012 There were 64,000 UK property sales in January, up 23 per cent compared the same month last year, according to figures from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Sales numbers endured the traditional post-Christmas dip, falling from 86,000 in December. But the January figures are the highest since 2008. Yesterday the Council of Mortgage lenders said [...]
Private equity slips in stakes July 30, 2012 PRIVATE equity funds have started to slip behind their private company rivals in the bidding war to snap up firms for the first time since 2007, research published today shows. Average price to earnings multiples paid by trade buyers in this quarter have surpassed private equity prices by 130 basis points. BDO partner Andrew Ware, [...]
What the other papers say this morning August 16, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Gold price fall as Asian demand dips Global demand for gold is seeing a significant slowdown as top consumers in India and China pare purchases amid weak economic growth, abruptly halting a consumption boom that started five years ago with the onset of the financial crisis. The World Gold Council, a lobby group [...]
JJB Sports calls time as it hires administrators September 25, 2012 AILING retailer JJB Sports yesterday confirmed it will appoint administrators after failing to receive an offer for the entire company, putting up to 4,000 jobs at risk. Shares in the group – which were worth a total of as much as £1bn a decade ago – were suspended yesterday and remaining investors, including US tycoon [...]
Bovis leader calls for lenders to raise awareness of NewBuy August 20, 2012 THE CHIEF executive of Bovis Homes yesterday called for banks to take further action to promote the government’s NewBuy scheme as first-time home buyers remain left in the dark. David Ritchie praised the scheme, which offers 95 per cent loan-to-value mortgages, but said reservations were still trickling in at three or four per week. “What [...]
Housebuilder Bovis hunts for growth in south as profits rise February 27, 2012 HOUSEBUILDER Bovis Homes reported a 74 per cent jump in profit yesterday and predicted a strong 2012 from its focus on the relatively buoyant market for family homes in the affluent south of England. “It was a great year in terms of driving profitability back through the business … and we are expecting a stable [...]
Housebuilder Bovis hunts for growth in south as profits rise February 27, 2012 HOUSEBUILDER Bovis Homes reported a 74 per cent jump in profit yesterday and predicted a strong 2012 from its focus on the relatively buoyant market for family homes in the affluent south of England. “It was a great year in terms of driving profitability back through the business … and we are expecting a stable [...]
House loans grow despite grim economy January 16, 2012 THE HOUSING market showed signs of life in November with sales and remortgages both rising, data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) revealed yesterday. Growth is expected to continue in the months before March, after which first-time buyers will no longer benefit from stamp duty exemption. Overall lending for house purchase rose four per [...]
Housebuilders should be re-evaluated February 29, 2012 PERSIMMON, the UK’s biggest housebuilder by value, is experiencing improving fortunes like most in the sector – but it is still a shadow of its former self. Pre-tax profits, which were 55 per cent higher at £148.1m, are nothing compared to the £600m or so that was the norm in 2006. Still, the outlook for [...]