The US Commerce Department has today revealed that new US housebuilding fell to a record low in April, sending shares down following yesterday‘s rebound. According to official figures, new housing starts fell 12.8% to an annual rate of 458,000 units – the lowest level since records began fifty years ago. On an annual basis, housing [...]
Figures released from Eurostat have revealed that retail sales in the euro zone fell by a record 4.2% year-on-year in March. The fall in retail sales shows continued weakness in consumer demand with analysts not expecting an improvement in the medium-term. According to Juergen Michels of Citigroup, the figures are disappointing and suggest that rising [...]
There are concerns for the recession-hit euro zone economy as it heads towards deflation. In order to fight off a prolonged recession, the European Central Bank (ECB) is expected to cut interest rates to a record low of 1%. In October last year, rates for the euro zone area hit 4.25% and currently stand at [...]
Interest rates have been cut to 1.5% today – the lowest level since the Bank of England was established 315 years ago. The cut of 0.5% was widely expected by economists as attempts continue to boost the economy and bring down inflation. Since the level of 5% in October, the Bank has slashed rates four [...]
The Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates later today in the US from the current level of 1% to 0.5% or even 0.25%. The Fed has made aggressive cuts since September last year, when rates stood at 5.25%. A further cut is expected as figures have revealed that US consumer spending has plummeted, [...]
According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), UK retail sales have fallen over a 12-month period for the first time in 3½ years. According to the BRC, like-for-like sales in October were down 2.2%, while total sales were 0.1% lower compared with October last year. The figures are further proof that the High Street is [...]
According to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics), the number of homes changing hands has fallen to levels not experienced since their survey started in 1978. The organisation said the average number of property sales handled by surveyors across the country over the last three months plummeted to just 14.4 – the equivalent of [...]
As a result of the ongoing credit crunch, UK households are cutting back on spending. Furthermore, rising mortgage payments, together with the sharp rise in food and fuel costs is adding to the financial strain on UK families. The latest Alliance Trust Research Centre’s Financial Reality Index has revealed that the financial health of households [...]
Figures released by the Bank of England today revealed that 42,000 home loans were approved in May, which is a 27% decline compared with April and represents a 64% fall compared with 12 months ago. The Bank said the figures were the lowest since it began recording the data in 1993. The figures were also [...]
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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