The National Association of Realtors has revealed a surprise rise in sales of previously owned homes in the US for the month of September. The industry body said sales surged 9.4% to an annual rate of 5.57 million in September, up from 5.09 million the previous month. The rate far exceeded analysts expectations who had [...]
The recovery in the US was thrown into doubt today after the Commerce Department revealed housing start figures for the month of September. While construction of new US homes rose during the month, it was below economists’ expectations. According to the Commerce Department, construction of new US homes rose 0.5% during the month to a [...]
The US economy has received a further boost after the Commerce Department revealed a rise in housing starts for the month of August. According to the Commerce Department, construction of new US homes rose 1.5% in August to an annual rate of 598,000 properties. The rise was the fastest since November 2008, giving hope that [...]
House building in England has surged, with figures from the Department for Communities and Local Government showing a 63% quarterly rise in the number of new starts. During the three months to the end of June work began on an estimated 29,980 homes although the figure fell 9% short when compared to the same period [...]
Government figures released today revealed a shock rise in the number of US workers filing new claims for jobless benefits. The Labor Department said initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits rose 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 576,000 in the week ending August 15, up from 561,000 the previous week. Linda Duessel, market strategist at [...]
The Commerce Department has revealed a fall in US housing starts for the month of July ending three months of gains. According to the Commerce Department, construction of new US homes fell 1% in the month to an annual rate of 581,000 properties. However, there was a fifth straight monthly rise in single family home [...]
The Commerce Department has today revealed that US housing starts and permits rose higher than expected in June. According to official figures, new housing starts rose 3.6% to 582,000 units – the highest level in seven months. This is the second month in a row that housing starts have risen following record lows in April. [...]
The US Commerce Department has today revealed that housing starts and permits rose in May, recovering from record lows in April. According to official figures, new housing starts soared 17.2% (the largest rise in three months) to an annual rate of 532,000 units in May, up from April’s figure of 454,000. However, the rate was [...]
The US Federal Reserve has slashed its economic forecast for this year with a fall of between 0.5% and 1.5% expected. The forecast has been revised downwards after the Fed said in October it anticipated output of between a shrinkage of 0.2% and growth of 1.1%. Meanwhile, the Fed’s Chairman, Ben Bernanke, said they are [...]
The US Commerce Department has revealed that US housing starts fell by 16.8% last month – the lowest level since the Commerce Department started collecting data in 1959. The construction of new houses and apartments fell to an annual rate of 466,000 units in January, much less than the forecasted rate of 530,000 by analysts. [...]
Figures from the National Association of Realtors have revealed a surprise rise in US home sales in December, as buyers took advantage of lower house prices. The organisation said sales of existing homes rose 6.5% to an annual rate of 4.74 million, from 4.45 million in November. According to the National Association of Realtors, for [...]
The Construction Products Association (CPA) and Ernst & Young, which jointly produce a quarterly barometer of the construction sector, have reported that the number of homes being built in the UK has fallen to its lowest level since 1924. Housing developers hit by plummeting sales have been mothballing new projects and so far this year [...]
House building figures for the three months to the end of September have been released by the Department of Communities and Local Government. The statistics show that new housing starts in England stood at an estimated 22,200, with the seasonally adjusted figure down 33% of the previous three months and 48% lower than a year [...]
Official figures show that the number of homes and apartments being constructed in the US plummeted to the lowest level since March 1991. According to the Commerce Department, the 11% fall to an annual rate of 965,000, the lowest level for over 17 years, followed a 1.084 million rate the previous month. In addition, building [...]
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 [...]
About | Privacy | Disclaimer | Resources | XML Feeds | Press Releases | Directory | Contact us
