Britain facing recession by end of year
October 3, 2008 by admin
Filed under News, News-Banking
Over recent weeks a number of industry professionals and groups have said that Britain will slide into recession by the end of the year. The latest warning comes from the European Union, which has warned that a number of countries face recession by the end of this year. There was also a stark warning from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which said that Britain has the worst outlook of any major economy when it comes to growth. Read more
Tags: european, key financial markets, European Union, recession, Co-operation
House prices rise by 9.9%
January 5, 2007 by admin
Filed under News, News-Mortgages
House prices in the UK rose by 9.9 per cent throughout 2006, according to the Halifax bank.
A report carried out by the bank shows that price inflation on properties in the country increased during the last 12 months.
Despite the overall rise, Halifax said that prices fell by one per cent in December, with some industry figures hopeful of a slowing down in the market.
“It remains too early to conclude that this indicates a genuine slowdown in the housing market,” said Halifax’s chief economist Martin Ellis.
“Overall, prices in the final quarter of 2006 were 4.2 per cent higher than in the previous quarter, marking the strongest quarterly rise since 2004 quarter two.”
Northern Ireland saw the biggest increases during 2006, with the average house price rising by 53 per cent.
Halifax’s report is based on figures from its own lending to customers but falls in line with other major lenders’ results.
Nationwide recently published a report into 2006 house prices and put the rate of inflation at 10.5 per cent.
Although Halifax says factors such as economic growth, rising employment and lack of supply will drive up house prices, the bank expects to see a slowdown in the coming year.
“Higher interest rates, greater pressure on household finances and subdued real earnings growth will… constrain housing demand,” said Mr Ellis. “We expect house prices to increase by four per cent in 2007.”
