The National Association of Realtors (NAR) today said its Pending Home Sales Index rose for the third consecutive month in April boosted by the expiration of a Government tax credit. The NAR said the index rose 6% in April – far exceeding the 4.3% rise which many analysts had predicted. However, the index is 22.4% [...]
US consumer confidence rose in may, despite fears about the debt crisis in the euro zone. The closely-monitored Consumer Confidence Index from the Conference Board rose for the third consecutive month to 63.3 in May, up from 57.7 the previous month. However, despite the rise, the index still remains far away from the 90 points [...]
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has today revealed a rise in sales of previously owned homes in the US for the month of April, boosted by the expiration of a Government tax credit, which ended last month. The industry body said sales surged 7.6% in April (a five-month high) to an annual rate of [...]
RealtyTrac has revealed the number of homes being repossessed in the US hit a record high in April. The real estate data company said banks took control of 92,432 properties last month – a rise of 1% compared with March but a massive 45% increase compared with a year ago. Meanwhile, there were far fewer [...]
The Commerce Department has today revealed a fall in sales of new homes in the US for the month of February. According to the Commerce Department, new single-family home sales fell by 2.2% on the month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 308,000 units – the lowest since records commenced in 1963. Meanwhile, the [...]
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has today revealed a further fall in sales of previously owned homes in the US for the month of February. The industry body said sales fell 0.6% in the month to an annual rate of 5.02 million units (an eight-month low), down from 5.05 million the previous month. February’s [...]
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has revealed a fall in sales of previously owned homes in the US for the month of January, suggesting the extension of the $8,000 tax credit for first-time buyers is having little appeal. The industry body said sales agreements fell 7.6% in January compared with December and the index [...]
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has today revealed a sharp fall in sales of previously owned homes in the US for the month of December. The industry body said sales fell 16.7% to an annual rate of 5.45 million units in December, down from 6.54 million the previous month. Analysts had expected a rate [...]
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) today said its Pending Home Sales Index fell sharply by 16% in November to 96.0 from 114.1 in October, ending a nine-month rise. The NAR attributed the fall on the end of a rush to beat the original expiration of the $8,000 tax credit for first-time buyers. The tax [...]
The Commerce Department today revealed that the world’s no.1 economy grew at a slower rate in the third quarter than previous estimates showed. According to official figures, the US economy grew by 2.2% between the July and September period, rather than the 2.8% previously reported and the original estimate of 3.5%. The figures come on [...]
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said its Pending Home Sales Index rose to 114.1 in October – its ninth consecutive monthly rise. The index is up 31.8% from this time last year – the biggest year-on-year gain since the series began in 2001. However, many analysts believe that the US housing market is being [...]
The National Association of Realtors has revealed a rise in sales of previously owned homes in the US for the month of October. The industry body said sales surged 10.1% to an annual rate of 6.1 million units in October, up from a revised 5.54 million the previous month. Not only was the rise in [...]
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said its Pending Home Sales Index rose to 110.1 in September – its eight consecutive monthly rise. The index now stands at the highest level since December 2006 when it was 112.8. The index is 21.2% higher than September last year when it was at the 90.9 mark and [...]
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 National Association of Realtors announced today that sales of previously owned homes in the US dipped in August following four consecutive monthly gains. The industry body said sales fell 2.7% to an annual rate of 5.1 million in August, down from an annual rate of 5.24 million the previous month. The figures show that [...]
The National Association of Realtors announced today that sales of previously owned homes in the US rose in May, albeit at a slower-than-expected pace. The organisation said sales rose 2.4% to an annual rate of 4.77 million units, up from the revised 4.66 million reported in April. Analysts had expected a 4.81 million-unit pace for [...]
According to the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price index, house prices in the US continued to fall in February, albeit the rate of decline is slowing. The Index shows that for the month, the price of single-family homes in 20 of the largest cities in the US fell 18.6% compared with a year ago and [...]
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) in the US have revealed that holiday homes and investment property sales had fallen by 30 percent as the economic climate and tighter lending procedures have meant many buyers have not taken advantage of low prices. The average price of a holiday and investment home has actually fallen by [...]
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 [...]
Figures from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) has revealed a surprise rise in the US in agreements to purchase homes in June. The news was a welcome relief said the association, who added that a rise in contract activity was required for a housing recovery. Following an increase in defaults in the sub-prime sector, [...]
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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