The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has revealed sales of previously owned homes in the US rose in January. The industry body said sales grew 2.7% in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.36 million units – beating forecasts of 5.23 million units. Sales were also up 5.3% compared with January 2010 levels. [...]
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has revealed a slump in the number of homes sold in January in the UK. According to HMRC, just 54,000 homes worth at least £40,000 or more were sold in the month – the lowest number since January 2010. The figures are revealed as the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) reported [...]
The slowdown in consumer spending looks set to continue after the John Lewis Partnership, which is regarded as a barometer of British retailing, reported a further fall in weekly sales. The renowned employee-owned chain said department store sales fell 0.9% o £49.5 million in the week to 29 January. In the week to 22 January, [...]
There is further evidence today of a slowdown in consumer spending after the John Lewis Partnership, which is regarded as a barometer of British retailing, reported a further fall in weekly sales. The renowned employee-owned department store said department store sales fell 2.2% to £50.1 million in the week to 22 January. In the week [...]
The Commerce Department has today revealed a rise in sales of new homes in the US for the month of December. According to the Commerce Department, new single-family home sales rose to a better than expected annual rate of 329,000 units, from a revised 280,000 in November. However, on an annual basis, December sales were [...]
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has reported that the number of homes sold in the UK during 2010 was 885,000. While this was a slight improvement on 2009 levels, it was just over half of the peak seen during the housing boom years of 2006 and 2007. The figures are evidence that the housing market [...]
The John Lewis Partnership, which is regarded as a barometer of British retailing, has revealed sales slowed in the week to 15 January – attributed to the VAT hike from 17.5% to 20%. In the previous week, the renowned employee-owned department store said the bank holiday, on Monday 3 January, saw shoppers buy furniture and [...]
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has today revealed sales of previously owned homes in the US rose more than expected in December. The industry body said sales grew 12.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.28 million units – beating forecasts of 4.85 million units. Economists had expected a lower reading due to [...]
Music, books, DVDs and games retailer, HMV, has been dealt a further blow today after credit insurers have reduced the cover they are prepared to give to suppliers of the firm. The news sent its shares down more than 11% in early trading to 23.25p. In a statement today, HMV said: “Credit insurers are reviewing [...]
China’s property prices rose for the fourth consecutive month in December, albeit at a slower pace. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, prices rose 0.3% in December, taking the annual rate to 6.4% – although this is half of the peak reached in April 2010 – when prices surged 12.8%. However, prices have remained [...]
The John Lewis Partnership, which is regarded as a barometer of British retailing, has revealed sales surged ahead of the VAT rise as shoppers rushed to buy big-ticket items. The renowned employee-owned department store said the bank holiday, on Monday 3 January, saw shoppers buy furniture and electrical goods as they looked to beat the [...]
Supermarket giant Tesco today announced like-for-like sales, excluding petrol, grew by just 0.6% in the six week period to 8 January compared with a year earlier. The figures were worse than expected for the Christmas period and the company blamed the heavy snowfall which gripped most of the country during the build up to the [...]
December’s heavy snowfall had a negative impact on many companies and housebuilder Persimmon was no exception. The housebuilder, which is the UK’s second largest by market value, said sales activity fell by 50% in December but said it had been an encouraging start to the year. The company reported a considerable increase in underlying profits [...]
Wm Morrison Supermarkets has today reported a rise in Christmas and New Year sales, despite the bad weather which gripped most of the country during December. The grocer, which is Britain’s fourth largest, said like-for-like sales grew 1% in the six-week period over Christmas and New Year compared with the same period a year ago. [...]
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) is expecting the UK’s motor industry to face a challenging few months amid “difficult conditions”. The comments from the industry body come shortly after it announced sales of new cars in the UK rose by 1.8% in 2010, although volumes were still at their second-lowest in the [...]
The heavy snowfall which gripped most of the country last month has hit more retailers, figures showed today. December 2010 was the coldest nationally since records began in 1910. Yesterday, Next – Britain’s second largest fashion retailer, said sales for the five months to Christmas Eve – at shops open at least a year – [...]
Luxury supermarket chain, Waitrose, will open 39 new stores this year in the UK, creating 3,000 new jobs. The chain, which is part of the renowned employee-owned department store, John Lewis, is quickly becoming one of the UK’s fastest growing supermarkets. Twenty seven of the new outlets will be in the new convenience store format, [...]
Music, books, DVDs and games retailer, HMV, has today said it is planning to close 60 stores over the next year. The announcement came after it revealed sales were hit by the recent heavy snowfall. The chain also continues to struggle amid tough competition from supermarkets and internet companies, such as Amazon. Shares in the [...]
The heavy snowfall which gripped most of the country last month resulted in a fall in sales at Next – Britain’s second largest fashion retailer. The company today announced sales for the five months to Christmas Eve – at shops open at least a year – were down 6.1%. However, online sales were up 8.7% [...]
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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