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May 30, 2008
by Elaine Frei
London’s equities markets were lower on Friday, with the FTSE 100 down 0.24 percent to 6.053.5 and the FTSE 250 suffering a decline of 0.48 percent to 10,049.3 after a business-only airline folded operations and the real estate sector saw losses.
In continental Europe, on the other hand, the airlines and technology sectors sent equities higher.
The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.31 percent to ...
by Gill Montia
Abbey has increased some mortgage interest rates, after making cuts only last week. The Spanish-owned bank is raising rates on its fixed-rate loans by up to 0.56%.
Short-term fixed-rate borrowers will see the biggest rise, with a typical three-year fix now offered at 6.49%, increasing repayments on a £150,000 loan by £52 a month.
For a five-year fixed rate deal ...
by Kay Murchie
An internal memo at Northern Rock has unveiled that the crisis-torn bank is expecting to see a vast increase in the amount of customers struggling to pay off their mortgage over the next 12 months.
As a result, the bank is proposing to more than double the number of people who work in its debt management arm from 176 to 444. ...
by Kay Murchie
US banking giant, Bear Stearns is no more as its shareholders have approved the $2.2 billion sale to rival JP Morgan Chase.
A meeting took place earlier this week at Bear’s headquarters in New York where investors backed the $10-a-share bid.
The original offer of $2 a share infuriated some Bear Stearns shareholders who said the bank was ...
by Kay Murchie
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has announced that Adair Turner will be the new chairman of the City's watchdog, when Sir Callum McCarthy steps down in September.
Lord Turner is a director at many firms, including Standard Chartered, as well as head of the government's committee on climate change.
Furthermore, he supervised the government's Pensions Commission between 2003 and 2006, and the ...
by Kay Murchie
Last month saw the eight banks, who include Abbey, Barclays, Clydesdale, Halifax Bank of Scotland, HSBC, Lloyds TSB, RBS NatWest and Nationwide Building Society, lose the first stage of the legal battle against the unfair charges case.
However, it has now emerged that Barclays is to cut its overdraft charges. According to the bank, it has been able to reduce ...
May 29, 2008
by Elaine Frei
Europe’s equities markets were higher Thursday after oil companies saw gains.
The FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 0.27 percent to 1,330.28 while the Paris CAC-40 gained 0.1 percent to 4,975.9, and the Dax and IBEX each added 0.3 percent, to 7,055.03 and 13,539.5 respectively.
London’s markets, however, were mixed on declines for house builders and banks after house prices were reported lower again in May.
The ...
by Gill Montia
Nationwide recorded a 2.5% fall in UK house prices in May, the biggest monthly decline since the building society began keeping records, in 1991.
According to the lender, house prices have now fallen for the seventh consecutive month (the longest consecutive period of decline since 1992) taking property values 4.4% below May 2007 levels.
Earlier this week, the National Association of Estate Agents ...
by Brian Turner
The Nationwide's House Price Index has revealed that house prices fell by 2.5% in May - the steepest fall in house prices since 1991.
It remains the seventh month in a row that house prices have fallen, bringing overall house price inflation to -4.4% across the UK for the past 12 months.
The resulting fall see average house prices now at ...
by Kay Murchie
Credit information company, Experian, revealed that last year, over 6,000 victims of identity fraud asked Experian's fraud team for help, compared with just 3,500 the previous year - this represents an increase of 66%.
In its Victims of Fraud Dossier, Experian investigated over 10,000 identity fraud cases by postcode area, victim type and fraud technique.
The results have discovered that the nation's identity ...
by Gill Montia
Financial website Moneyfacts.co.uk has discovered that new mortgage products are little more than a flash in the pan because they are available for an average of 11 working days.
In April, when the base rate was reduced by 0.25%, some mortgages actually put in a fleeting appearance that lasted only six days.
This time last year, the average life of a new ...
by Kay Murchie
A report, which is due to be published next month, reveals that 2 million customers have been sold potentially worthless payment protection insurance (PPI).
The policies cover monthly payments for goods, services or loans during illness and redundancy.
Over the last 5 years, 6 million have signed up for the deals but the Office of Fair Trading, the Competition Commission and ...
by Kay Murchie
Figures from the British Bankers' Association (BBA) have revealed that Britons are taking advantage of high savings rate as the amount of money deposited into savings accounts more than doubled last month to reach record levels.
The BBA said £5.8 billion was deposited into personal bank accounts during April, compared to £2.8 billion the previous month and out-performs the previous ...
May 28, 2008
by Gill Montia
The Intermediary Mortgage Lenders' Association (IMLA) has reported a further rise in remortgaging, which made up 49% of all home loan business for its members during the first three months of 2008.
The figure stood at 48% during the previous quarter and the IMLA is predicting strong growth in remortgage cases in the coming months.
The association, which represents professional financial intermediaries, suggests ...
by Gill Montia
Estate agents are reporting evidence of a return to housing market stability in certain regions of the UK.
April saw figures for the number of viewings required before a sale is agreed and the average difference between asking and selling prices remain stable month-on-month.
According to the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA), an average sale required fourteen viewings (up two on ...
by Gill Montia
The British Bankers' Association has reported a small increase in the number of mortgages for house purchases approved in April, which rose to 38,704, compared with March's record low of 35,546.
The figure is well below the average of the past six months and 39.4% down on April 2007.
While last month's rise shows promise, analysts are not interpreting it as signs of ...
May 27, 2008
by Gill Montia
HomesMatter has requested an Office of Fair Trading investigation into Rightmove's decision not to allow it to advertise on the property portal.
The recently established estate agency charges a flat fee of £899 plus VAT to sell a property, regardless of its value.
According to HomesMatter, Rightmove has declined the business because the estate agency fees will be substantially less than ...
by Kay Murchie
The £300 million Faster Payments Service, developed by 13 banks, gets underway today.
The 13 banks included in the scheme are Abbey, Alliance and Leicester, Barclays, Citi, Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks (National Australia Group), Co-operative Bank, HBOS, HSBC, Lloyds TSB, Nationwide Building Society, Northern Bank (Danske Bank), Northern Rock, and Royal Bank of Scotland Group (including NatWest and Ulster Bank).
The service has ...
by Kay Murchie
The sale of Royal Bank of Scotland's (RBS) insurance business is pressing ahead with seven bidders interested.
Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch, which are advising RBS, are believed to have shortlisted a number of interested parties for its £6 billion insurance business to seven, ahead of the first-round auction deadline tomorrow.
However, the shortlist does not include any bids from private equity ...
by Gill Montia
Hometrack's latest survey shows a further slide in house prices.
The housing intelligence firm recorded a 0.5% fall in May, leaving the average property worth 1.9% less than in May 2007 at £172,200.
Prices fell by 0.6% in April, making May the eighth consecutive month in which values have declined.
On an annual basis, property price inflation fell to -1.9% in ...
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London’s equities markets were lower on Friday, with the FTSE 100 down 0.24 percent to 6.053.5 and the FTSE 250 suffering a decline of 0.48 percent to 10,049.3 after a business-only airline folded operations and the real estate sector saw losses.
In continental Europe, on the other hand, the airlines and technology sectors sent equities higher.
The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.31 percent to ...
Europe’s equities markets were higher Thursday after oil companies saw gains.
The FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 0.27 percent to 1,330.28 while the Paris CAC-40 gained 0.1 percent to 4,975.9, and the Dax and IBEX each added 0.3 percent, to 7,055.03 and 13,539.5 respectively.
London’s markets, however, were mixed on declines for house builders and banks after house prices were reported lower again in May.
The ...
The Intermediary Mortgage Lenders' Association (IMLA) has reported a further rise in remortgaging, which made up 49% of all home loan business for its members during the first three months of 2008.
The figure stood at 48% during the previous quarter and the IMLA is predicting strong growth in remortgage cases in the coming months.
The association, which represents professional financial intermediaries, suggests ...
HomesMatter has requested an Office of Fair Trading investigation into Rightmove's decision not to allow it to advertise on the property portal.
The recently established estate agency charges a flat fee of £899 plus VAT to sell a property, regardless of its value.
According to HomesMatter, Rightmove has declined the business because the estate agency fees will be substantially less than ...