The latest house price index from the Nationwide Building Society has revealed a 0.3% rise for the month of May compared with April. The latest fall means house prices are now 1.2% lower than this time last year with the average UK home costing £167,208. Despite the rise, the housing market remains subdued as a [...]
According to the latest Confederation of British Industry (CBI) distributive trades survey, retailers continue to be cautious about the economic outlook despite a rise in retail sales in May. The CBI’s survey established that the sales balance fell to +18 this month from +21 in April – easily beating analysts’ expectation of a reading of [...]
The Munich-based Ifo think tank has revealed confidence among German firms remained flat in May. The closely-watched Business Climate Index remained unchanged at 114.2 in May, surprising analysts’ who had expected the index to slip to 113.7. Ifo surveys around 7,000 German manufacturing, construction, wholesale and retail companies each month. Export demand helped to bring [...]
The Zew economic sentiment index has revealed German analyst and investor confidence fell for the third consecutive month in May. The index, which measures expectations of economic activity over the next six months, plunged to 3.1 from April’s reading of 7.6 – the figure was worse than forecasts of a drop to 4.5. The latest [...]
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee has voted to maintain the base rate at 0.5% in May, as widely expected. The Bank’s quantitative easing (asset purchase) programme will also be maintained at its current level of £200 billion. The base rate has remained unchanged since March 2009, despite inflation running at 4%, double the [...]
Consumer confidence in Germany, which is the euro zone’s largest economy, is expected to fall further in May, according to the GfK research group. The market research company said its forward looking consumer sentiment index, based on a survey of about 2,000 people, will fall to 5.7 in May from April’s reading of 5.9. The [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed that UK unemployment fell in the three months to May. According to the ONS, the number of people unemployed in the UK fell to 2.468 million, boosted by a record rise in part-time work. The latest figures means the unemployment rate dipped to 7.8% from 7.9% [...]
The Commerce Department today announced the US trade deficit widened in May to $42.3 billion (£28 billion) – an 18-month high. Most economists had expected the deficit to fall to $39.4 billion. The trade gap for goods and services grew 4.8% from $40.3 billion in April, the Commerce Department said. The figures showed that imports [...]
Mortgage borrowers who moved home in May saw their mortgage interest payments accounting for the lowest proportion of income since the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) began collecting data, in 1975. CML members made 27,100 loans to home movers, up 19% on a year earlier, while the proportion of income spent on mortgage interest stood [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed the UK’s trade gap widened more than anticipated in May. According to the ONS, exports of goods grew 0.2% compared with April to £21.5 billion, while imports also grew on the month, by 2.4% to £29.5 billion. The ONS said the UK’s goods trade deficit with [...]
Japanese core private-sector machinery orders – a highly volatile series seen as an indicator of corporate spending – fell more than expected in May, according to figures published today. Official figures revealed machinery orders fell by 9.1% in May compared with the previous month – the steepest fall since August 2008 – as companies held [...]
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) today said its Pending Home Sales Index fell by 30% in May, after rising 23% between January and April. The slump was attributed to the expiration of a Government incentive – which ended on 30 April. While a fall in deals was anticipated, it was double the amount that [...]
The number of mortgages approved for house purchases remained all but static in May, compared with April, at 49,815, according to Bank of England data. The figure was down on the previous six month average and well behind the November 2009 peak of 59,338. The result has disappointed analysts who were hoping to see a [...]
Figures today revealed a surprise rise in Japan’s unemployment rate. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said unemployment edged higher from 5.1% in April to 5.2% in May. Analysts had expected a fall to 5%. However, the availability of jobs in the world’s second largest economy improved. The jobs-to-applicants ratio grew from 0.48 in [...]
According to the Commerce Department, consumer spending in the US rose to an eight-month high in May, by 0.2% on month, suggesting the recovery is still on course. The rise in consumer spending, which makes up for more than two-thirds of overall economic activity in the US, slightly exceeded expectations of a 0.1% rise. The [...]
House prices in England and Wales slipped by 0.2% in May, according to Land Registry data. The average cost of a home stood at £165,314 during the month, with the decline taking the annual rate of inflation down to 8.2%. However, the Registry points out that May was the seventh month in a row in [...]
The Commerce Department has revealed a record fall in sales of new homes in the US for the month of May. According to the Commerce Department, new single-family home sales fell by 32.7% on year to an all-time low of 300,000 units – the lowest since records commenced in 1963. However, a fall was expected [...]
Agency Express has reported a 13.6% increase in the number of homes put up for sale in May, compared with April, leaving prospective purchasers their best level of choice in over two years. The firm’s managing director, Stephen Watson, comments: “The decision by the new coalition Government to immediately suspend the requirement to have a [...]
In May, net mortgage lending by Britain’s High Street banks grew to £2.6 billion, compared with £1.9 billion in April. Annual growth in net lending (gross lending with repayments and redemptions stripped out) stood at 4.3%, unchanged from April, according to the British Bankers’ Association, while May’s gross mortgage lending of £9 billion was in [...]
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has today revealed a surprise drop in sales of previously owned homes in the US for the month of May, despite the Government tax credit designed to entice homebuyers. The industry body said sales fell 2.2% in May to an annual rate of 5.66 million units, up from a [...]
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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