Despite record levels of search activity on its website this month, estate agency Rightmove reports that the number of new homes being put up for sale has fallen to the lowest level ever recorded. More than 44 million property searches were carried out on Rightmove’s site during the first ten days of 2012, a 27% [...]
Although more new houses were put up for sale in December, transactions were hampered by sellers asking too high a price for their properties, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). December saw the number of houses put up for sale increase for the third month in a row, especially in London where [...]
Figures today have revealed Ireland’s economy continued to see growth in the April to June period. According to the Central Statistics Office, the economy grew by a better than expected 1.6% in the three-month period and this follows a revised 1.9% growth rate in the first quarter. This represents the first time since 2006 that [...]
According to Knight Frank LLP, 59% of new-build property in London has been acquired by Asian buyers in the six month period to April. This is up from 48% a year earlier as buyers seek alternatives from rocketing property prices in China and Singapore. The estate agent said Asian buyers are taking advantage of the [...]
Spain has featured heavily in the news recently after speculation mounts that the country will need to seek an emergency bailout from the EU. However, the country’s Government continues to deny the claims. Earlier this month, Spain’s finance minister, Elena Salgado, said: “Our fiscal adjustment is on track… we have done all the things that [...]
Ireland’s Prime Minister, Brian Cowen, announced last night that his Government has made a formal request for an emergency bailout. In the euro zone’s second emergency rescue this year, Ireland will receive between €80 and €90 billion but the country’s finance minister, Brian Lenihan, said a precise figure has not been determined. The loan will [...]
Irish finance minister, Brian Lenihan, has today said the country is preparing to make a formal request for an emergency bailout. The exact amount of the loan, which will come from the EU rescue fund, which was established by European Governments and the International Monetary Fund after the Greek debt crisis earlier this year, was [...]
The former “Celtic Tiger” economy is sending jitters throughout the euro zone today after borrowing costs surged to record highs. Rumours of financial aid for the economy increased and come just months after Greece’s debt crisis. However, claims that Ireland will have to turn to the EU rescue fund have been denied but developments are [...]
Spanish banking giant, Santander, has today reported a fall in third quarter profits, due to changes on bad loan provisions. The bank, which is the euro zone’s largest, said third quarter profits fell 13% to €2.1 billion (£1.8 billion) as provisions for bad loans hampered results. Before the changes to one-off provisions, which were put [...]
Ireland’s central bank has warned that a potential rescue for troubled lender, Anglo Irish Bank, will cost up to €34.3 billion (£29 billion). The figure is much higher than last month’s estimation of between €22-€25 billion and the revised figure is the equivalent of Ireland’s annual taxation revenues. The central bank said that the nationalisation [...]
Troubled lender, Anglo Irish Bank, has today had its debt rating slashed by credit agency Moody’s, sending the euro down against the US dollar. Moody’s cut the bank’s senior unsecured debt by three notches to Baa3 - just one notch above junk status. It also downgraded Anglo Irish’s subordinated debt by six notches to Caa1. [...]
Fitch Ratings cut Spain’s credit rating from the maximum AAA to AA+ on Friday and the news comes just a week after one of the country’s banks, CajaSur, was bailed out. Standard & Poor’s cut Spain’s credit rating a month ago and comes as the country has been forced to implement tough austerity measures in [...]
Britain’s babyboomer generation are overly-dependent on property to fund their retirement, new research has revealed. Nearly half of Brits aged 45 to 65 plan to rely on some form of property income to fund their life after they retire, the study by AXA found. This could lead to an over-supply of property on the housing [...]
Respected US billionaire investor Warren Buffett has said the problems in the US property market will be over within a year. In his annual letter to shareholders in Berkshire Hathaway, the investment group controlled by Mr Buffett, he said prices will remain ‘far below bubble levels’ for the medium term. He added: “People thought it [...]
Reports that mortgage lending increased during September are a “very positive sign” for the UK housing market, an industry expert has claimed. Stuart Law, chief executive of property investment firm Assetz, made the remarks after the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) reported a 2% rise in mortgage lending during September. Law said he is optimistic [...]
Only a quarter of landlords outside London are planning to increase their property portfolios over the next year, research has discovered. A study by Young’s Group found that just 26% of non-London landlords are in the market to purchase extra properties. Tom Entwistle, editor of landlord information site LandlordZONE, said the results of the poll [...]
The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) has reported a surge in the number of potential house purchasers registering with its members. NAEA firms reported an average 299 househunters signing up in May, the highest level since September 2007. However, last month the number of properties on estate agents’ books fell to an average of [...]
Banking giant, Lloyds Banking Group, is expected to take a hit of £450 million as a result of its investment in pub chain Admiral Taverns. In order to finance a series of acquisitions, the group’s Bank of Scotland arm loaned more than £850 million to Admiral but the pub group, which owns more than 2000 [...]
Some good news at last on the UK housing market! The monthly house price index from Halifax shows that eleven consecutive months of falling prices have been interrupted by an average rise of 1.9% in January. The turnaround brings the average price of a home to £163,966 or £4,000 more than in December 2008. The [...]
The extent of the stagnation in the UK property market has been revealed by research from Globrix. The property search engine found that across the UK, 5% of homes for sale first appeared on the market at the beginning of this year. In certain areas, one in four properties for sale have remained on the [...]
Average car insurance premium nears £1,000
Car insurance premiums increased in 2011, despite a fall in the third quarter of the year, the AA reports. Based on its ‘Shoparound’ price index, which takes the average of the three cheapest quotes from several insurance providers, the AA says that premiums have increased by 15.3% compared with a year ago. The average comprehensive [...]
Older people affected worst by inflation
This month’s official figures show that inflation has fallen from 4.8 per cent to 4.2 per cent but two new studies show that older age groups suffer the most from high inflation, and at 4.2 per cent it is still well above the government’s 2 per cent target. Saga’s monthly Price Index shows that since [...]
Nationwide re-launches 0% purchase credit card
Nationwide has re-launched its Select Visa credit card which offers 0%-on-purchases for 18 months – the longest period currently available on the market for a 0% deal. Cardholders also benefit from commission-free purchases while they are abroad and 0.5% cashback. Balance transfers are eligible for the 0% interest deal, but for 17 months rather than [...]
RBS Insurance firms fined for tampering with files
Insurance firms Direct Line and Churchill have been fined for making alterations to files before submitting them to the Financial Services Authority (FSA). In 2010 the regulator asked for 50 files to be submitted so that it could assess how the firms handled customers’ complaints. The request was part of an ongoing inquiry by the [...]
Complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) from consumers who were mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI), increased by 57 per cent to 30,301 between October and December 2010, compared with the previous three months. PPI complaints now make up 54% of the FOS’s workload. The FOS, which only deals with PPI complaints that financial firms [...]
Which? calls for action on overdraft charges
Consumer group Which? is calling for unfair overdraft charges to be stopped after finding that charges are too complicated and impossible to compare. Which? asked a number of volunteers to calculate how much an unauthorised overdraft would cost at RBS-NatWest, HSBC/First Direct, Lloyds, Barclays, Halifax, Nationwide and Santander. The volunteers, who included a maths PHD [...]
The rate of Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation fell to 4.2 per cent in December, from 4.8 per cent in November, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This is the third consecutive month that inflation has fallen and December’s figures represents the biggest monthly fall since April 2009. Inflation [...]
Property coming to market at record low levels
Despite record levels of search activity on its website this month, estate agency Rightmove reports that the number of new homes being put up for sale has fallen to the lowest level ever recorded. More than 44 million property searches were carried out on Rightmove’s site during the first ten days of 2012, a 27% [...]
Online banking to become the norm by 2015
By 2015 bank customers will use digital banking more than they use branches according to ‘The New Digital Tipping Point’ report from PricewaterhouseCoopers. The survey, of 3000 people in nine countries, suggests that customers are willing to pay up to £10 a month for online banking if they receive convenience and added-value services. These could [...]
One person per minute declared bankrupt
National money education charity Credit Action today revealed that one person is declared insolvent or bankrupt every 60 seconds during the working week. Based on statistics gathered in the third quarter of 2011, the charity estimates that 331 people are made insolvent or bankrupt every working day and 101 properties are repossessed every day. The [...]
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