A survey of 5,287 homeowners by online property website Zoopla.co.uk has revealed housing market confidence is at a two-year low. More than half (54%) of those questioned said they expect house prices to rise over the first six months of 2011 – this is down from the 81% reported this time last year. The website’s [...]
Consumer confidence in Germany, which is the euro zone’s largest economy, has fallen after six months of sharp gains, according to the GfK research group. GfK said its consumer climate indicator fell to 5.4 for January from 5.5 in December. The fall from the forward looking indicator, which questioned around 2,000 people, surprised some analysts. [...]
A survey showed today consumer confidence remains at low levels with the GfK NOP December consumer confidence index unchanged at -21. While it was marginally better than the -22 expected by analysts, it is two points lower than this time last year. Meanwhile, the survey’s “climate for major purchases” index surged ahead by 10 points, [...]
The Munich-based Ifo think tank today announced confidence among German firms rose in December to a record high. The Business Climate Index rose to 109.9 in December, up from 109.3 the previous month. Not only did the reading exceed expectations of 109.4, it represented the seventh consecutive increase. The closely-watched expectations index also rose to [...]
The Office For National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed the extent to which the recession has had on UK households after spending fell for the first time in a decade. The data shows how households have been squeezed after spending was £455 in 2009, down from £471 in the previous year – the first fall [...]
US consumer confidence edged higher in October to 50.2, from a revised 48.6 in September. The reading from the closely-monitored Consumer Confidence Index from the Conference Board beat expectations of a level of 49.2. However, while the index rose slightly, it remains far away from the 90 points required to show that the world’s largest [...]
Confidence among chief financial officers (CFOs) has fallen to the lowest level in 18 months. According to accountancy group Deloitte, confidence among these executives fell for the third consecutive quarter. More than a third of those surveyed said there is a risk that the economy will fall back into recession. Margaret Ewing, of Deloitte, said: [...]
The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply(CIPS)/Markit construction PMI index showed activity improved last month, driven by the commercial sector and civil engineering. However, activity in the housebuilding sector dropped – bringing an end to a year-long period of expansion. The index edged higher to 53.8 in September, from 52.1 in August – surprising analysts, [...]
The Labor Department has revealed US consumer prices rose by 0.3% in August – fuelled by a surge in petrol prices. Petrol prices rose by 3.9% in the month, while food prices rose by 0.2% in August, after falling slightly in July. The figures were slightly higher than expected, according to Uri Landesman of investment [...]
The Zew economic sentiment index has revealed German analyst and investor confidence plunged in September. The index, which measures expectations of economic activity over the next six months, dived 18.3 points to minus 4.3 points in September – representing the fifth consecutive monthly fall. Furthermore, the index fell much further than analysts had expected. The [...]
Virgin Money is to bring 200 jobs to Edinburgh, it has been announced today. The financial division of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group was granted a banking licence by city watchdog, the Financial Services Authority, earlier this year. The launch of the retail bank later comes at a time when consumers have lost confidence in [...]
Housebuilder Bovis Homes has today claimed the coalition Government’s spending cuts and tax hikes have dented consumer confidence. Its claim comes as the company reported a pre-tax profit of £3.5 million in the first half of 2010, compared with a loss of £8.6 million for the same period last year, Meanwhile, it added it planned [...]
A survey of 2,000 households, conducted by market researchers Markit and YouGov, has revealed confidence has been knocked and households are under pressure financially. The reason for the fall in confidence comes as households are fearful of losing their jobs as the coalition Government embarks on massive spending cuts and tax hikes. Approximately 600,000 public [...]
The Commerce Department has today revealed US housing starts recovered in July but building permits fell. According to the Commerce Department, construction of new US homes rose 1.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 546,000 properties – however, the figure was less than economists had expected. In the meantime, applications for building permits, a [...]
The Zew economic sentiment index has revealed German analyst and investor confidence plunged in August, new data has revealed today. The index, which measures expectations of economic activity over the next six months, fell from 21.2 in July to 14 in August – the lowest level since April last year and the fourth straight month [...]
The latest survey from the Nationwide Building Society has revealed a further fall in UK consumer confidence for the month of July. The building society’s consumer confidence index plunged from 63 in June to 56 last month – the lowest level since May 2009, due to the Government’s tough austerity measures. The Nationwide said the [...]
The European Union’s statistics agency has today announced unemployment in the 16-member euro zone remained flat at 10% in June. According to Eurostat, 15.77 million people were unemployed in the euro zone during June. Spain has the highest unemployment within the 16-bloc nation at 20%, while Austria has the lowest, at 3.9%. Meanwhile, in the [...]
The euro zone received a boost today after a report revealed business and consumer confidence surged to its highest level since March 2008. Confidence in the 16-member nation rose to 101.3 in July, up from a revised 99 in June, according to the European Commission’s economic sentiment index. However, the Commission highlighted that the rise [...]
The Munich-based Ifo think tank today announced confidence among German firms has returned. The Business Climate Index jumped to 106.2 points in July from 101.8 the previous month – the strongest rise for 20 years. The reading also exceeded expectations of a fall to 101.5 points. Germany, which is Europe’s largest economy, contracted by a [...]
The latest survey from the Nationwide Building Society has revealed a further fall in UK consumer confidence for the month of June. The building society’s consumer confidence index plunged from 66 in May to 63 in June – the lowest level for a year, due to ongoing economic uncertainty. However, the Nationwide highlights that the [...]
Phone fraudsters stealing bank card pins
Fraudsters using a phone scam to trick bank card holders into revealing their pin numbers stole £750,000 in the first four months of this year. This is the same amount stolen through this scam in the whole of last year. The fraudster telephones a bank customer, often someone elderly or vulnerable, telling them that their [...]
FSA rules out ban on interest-only mortgages
Speculation that the Financial Services Authority would ban interest-only mortgages as part of its Mortgage Market Review has proved to be unfounded. However, lenders will be required to monitor the performance of the investment product taken out by the customer to repay the mortgage at the end of its term. Investments are performing poorly because [...]
Bank of England may end free in-credit banking
A director of the Bank of England has warned that official intervention could be considered to end the ‘dangerous myth of free in-credit banking’. Andrew Bailey has already spoken out against free banking in relation to the mis-selling of financial products. In a speech made available to media, he reiterated his concern, saying that it [...]
Bank of England votes against more economic stimulus
The Bank of England voted against a further round of quantitative easing, at its latest Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. Just one member, David Miles, voted for further asset purchase to encourage growth in the UK economy, while the other eight members voted to keep the Bank’s quantitative easing programme steady at £325bn. The minutes [...]
Catalogue debt growing says helpline
Calls from people concerned about their debts with mail order catalogues accounted for more than 12 per cent of all calls received by National Debtline last year, compared with just 8 per cent in 2007. More people were concerned about catalogue debt than about payday loans, mortgage or rent, according to the Money Advice Trust [...]
Homeserve faces mis-selling investigation
HomeServe, which provides emergency insurance cover and domestic repairs to households in the UK, is to be investigated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Issues over the possible mis-selling of household emergency policies were uncovered last October during an internal review at the Walsall-based company. Homeserve’s call centre staff were found to be selling ‘Complete [...]
OFT warns Wonga over debt collection methods
Payday loan company Wonga used aggressive and misleading methods to collect debts from customers, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has found. Wonga sent letter and emails to certain customers suggesting they had committed fraud and threatening to report them to the police if they did not act in the way Wonga suggested. The company [...]
NS&I re-launches investment account
National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has re-launched its Investment Account at a higher interest rate than it previously offered. The account now offers 0.75 per cent before tax, compared with between 0.2 and 0.3 per cent previously, depending on the account balance. Deposits and withdrawals on the account can no longer be made at Post [...]
Rightmove reports property downsizing trend
Two in five property owners planning to sell in the next year are planning to ‘trade down’, compared with one in four who plan to ‘trade up’. A survey by property website Rightmove found that moving to a smaller home is the main reason for moving in nine out of the ten regions in the [...]
More people failing to save for retirement
The proportion of people with no pension savings has grown from 20 per cent to 22 per cent over the past year, according to Scottish Widows’ latest survey. The pension provider surveyed 5,200 adults in the UK, aged 30 or over, and earning at least £10,000 a year, for its annual review of pensions. Ian [...]
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