The latest survey from the Nationwide Building Society has revealed a fall in UK consumer confidence for the month of September. The building society’s consumer confidence index fell for the fourth consecutive month, falling by 3 points to 45 in September – hovering dangerously close to the all-time low of 41. Furthermore, it is 10 [...]
The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas rose 0.9% in July compared with June when values rose 1.2%. July represented the fourth consecutive monthly rise. On an annual basis, however, prices are 4.1% lower. The US housing market has remained in the doldrums for some time now and many have suggested it [...]
Property website, Rightmove, has today reported a drop in asking prices for the month of August – the second consecutive monthly fall. According to Rightmove, asking prices for residential property in England and Wales fell by 2.1% this month after a 1.6% decline in July. The property website, which claims to advertise 90% of the [...]
The Commerce Department has today revealed sales of new homes in the US rose for a second consecutive month in April, after diving to a record low in February. According to the Commerce Department, new single-family home sales grew 7.3% on the month to an annual rate of 323,000 units, better than analysts had forecast. [...]
Federal Statistical Office, Destatis, has today revealed German retail sales grew for a second consecutive month in January. According to Destatis, retail sales rose 2.6% in January on an annual basis – boosted by falling unemployment. Earlier this week, the Federal Labour Office said there was a further fall in the number of people out [...]
According to housing intelligence group, Hometrack, house prices in England and Wales fell for the eighth consecutive month in February. According to Hometrack, house prices fell by 0.2% on the month – however, this was the smallest decline for six months. On an annual basis, meanwhile, house prices were 2.7% lower in February – the [...]
The European Union’s statistics office Eurostat has today revealed retail sales fell unexpectedly in the euro zone last month. It represented the second consecutive monthly decline and followed November’s fall of 0.3%. According to Eurostat, sales fell 0.6% in December on the month, while on an annual basis, sales were down 0.9%. The figures surprised [...]
According to housing intelligence group, Hometrack, house prices in England and Wales fell for the seventh consecutive month in January. According to Hometrack, house prices fell by 0.5% on the month to £153,600. On an annual basis meanwhile, house prices were 2.2% lower in January. Hometrack believes that house prices will continue to fall, in [...]
The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas fell in November – the fifth consecutive monthly decline, albeit a smaller drop than expected. According to the index, house prices were 0.5% lower in November on the month and followed October’s decline of 1%. November’s level was just 1.2% higher than the 90-month low [...]
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has today reported mortgage lending remained weak in December. Mortgage lending fell by 6% in December compared with November, said the Council. According to the CML, mortgage lending totalled £11 billion – this was 18% lower compared with December 2009 – when buyers were rushing to beat the end [...]
The Commerce Department has revealed US retail sales grew for the sixth consecutive month in December. Sales grew by 0.6% on the month – although this was less than the 0.8% expected by analysts. December’s increase was less than in the previous two months, as retailers started their sales early, while parts of the country [...]
According to the Commerce Department, consumer spending in the US rose 0.4% in November compared with the previous month. The rise represented the fifth consecutive monthly gain, raising hopes that the world’s largest economy is on the road to recovery. Consumer spending makes up for more than two-thirds of overall economic activity in the US [...]
According to housing intelligence group, Hometrack, house prices in England and Wales fell for the fifth consecutive month in November. According to Hometrack, house prices fell by 0.8% on the month in November to £155,000. The ongoing fall in values continues to be the result of a higher level of instructions on the market and [...]
The Bank of England has revealed mortgage approvals fell for the fifth consecutive month in September. According to the Bank, there were 47,474 loans granted in the month – the lowest level since February. The figure continues to be well below the 60,000 reached in November 2009 as buyers took advantage of the stamp duty [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed public sector net borrowing totalled £15.607 billion in September – its highest for the month of September since records began more than 17 years ago. The figure was also higher than the £14.2 billion economists had expected and compares with £14.806 billion a year earlier. Overall, [...]
Japanese core private-sector machinery orders – a highly volatile series seen as an indicator of corporate spending – surged 10.1% in August – confounding expectations of a 4.5% fall. The increase in orders represented the third consecutive monthly rise, according to the Cabinet Office, and follows June’s 1.6% increase and July’s 8.8% growth. The surprise [...]
Germany’s statistics office, Destatis, today revealed exports fell 0.4% in August compared with July to €81.8 billion (£71.7 billion). It was the second consecutive month in which exports dropped and could raise doubts about the strength of the recovery in the euro zone’s largest economy. Export demand helped to bring Germany out of recession in [...]
Germany’s National statistics office, Destatis, today revealed a surprise fall in retail sales for the month of August. According to Destatis, retail sales in the euro zone’s largest economy fell 0.2% on the month – representing the second consecutive monthly fall, after July’s drop of 0.4%. The biggest falls were seen in food and drinks, [...]
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has today revealed Japan’s industrial output fell for the third month in a row in August, raising further fears about the strength of the economic recovery. Output fell 0.3% in August, way below analysts expectations of a 1.1% rise. The Ministry is forecasting production to fall 0.1% in [...]
It appears the housing market is headed for a double dip after property website, Rightmove, reported a further fall in asking prices in September. According to Rightmove, asking prices for residential property in England and Wales fell by 1.1% in the 5 weeks to 11 September – the third consecutively monthly fall. It follows falls [...]
M&S Money launches 3% cash ISA
M&S Money has launched an Advantage Cash ISA paying 3 per cent, and which allows transfers in from other ISAs. It can be opened with a minimum deposit of £100 lump sum followed by minimum monthly deposits of £25. The 3% rate is variable, but there is no short-term bonus so the return won’t plummet [...]
Google suspends UK Compare Mortgages site
Google has closed its UK mortgage comparison site which it launched in July last year, after it proved to be less popular than expected. Mortgage comparison sites are designed to allow visitors to compare mortgages quickly and easily without having to visit each lender’s individual site. Google was competing with several well-established comparison sites, including [...]
AA launches ‘black-box’ policy for young drivers
The AA is launching an innovative car insurance policy called Drivesafe which could help younger drivers save up to £850 a year. Younger drivers already pay substantially higher premiums than other motorists and these costs are increasing. A new study by Confused.com suggests insurance costs for younger driver have gone up by 5.7 per cent [...]
ATOL scheme updated to protect online bookers
ATOL, a financial protection scheme managed by the Civil Aviation Authority, is being extended to protect up to six million more holidays a year. The scheme ensures that holiday makers do not lose out financially if a travel company collapses, and that they are not stranded abroad. An increase in the number of holidays booked [...]
Home repossessions lowest for four years
The number of UK homes repossessed fell to 36,200 in 2011, significantly below the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ forecast of 40,000, and lower than 2010 when 37,100 homes were repossessed. With interest rates remaining low and lenders adopting a sympathetic attitude to customers in financial difficulty, repossessions fell to their lowest level since 2007. However, [...]
Monthly pay lasting just 17 days
Workers are running out of money just 17 days after receiving their monthly pay, according to new research by the Halifax bank. This means that the average UK worker spends half the month worrying about money. The study, based on the responses of more than 2,000 adults, found that 10 per cent of workers start [...]
Women disadvantaged by auto-enrolment changes
Government proposals to increase the auto-enrolment threshold to £10,000 could put 1.8 million women at risk of missing out on a pension, the TUC has warned. Under the auto-enrolment scheme, which will be phased in from October, private sector employers will automatically enrol workers between the age of 22 years and the state pension age, [...]
Emergency household repairs company Homeserve is taking longer than expected to get back on track after its operations were suspended last October. The company expected customer numbers to fall by 5% this year but it has increased this estimate to 8% and announced the loss of 200 jobs. It estimates that renewal revenue in 2013 [...]
Sale rumoured for Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks
There is growing speculation that National Australia Bank (NAB) may sell Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank after the Australian parent company announced a strategic review of the two banks’ operations. The Australian economy is performing well and NAB reported strong profits for the final quarter of 2011 but with the UK economy at a virtual [...]
More women experiencing debt difficulties
Women in Debt, which offers female-focused debt advice, has warned that the number of UK women facing serious debt has grown significantly over recent years. The organisation believes that more women will need advice on solving debt problems in the future because they are building up an unsustainable level of indebtedness. Women in Debt’s director, [...]
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