October sees further house price falls

Recently released figures from the Halifax have shown that house prices have fallen again in October, this time by 2.2 percent. This follows a smaller drop in September, and according to Halifax figures has resulted in the annual house price falling to 13.7 percent, although according to Nationwide the annual drop is larger at 14.7 percent. Halifax officials have said that the average house price is now around £30,000 lower than a year ago, coming in at £168,176. Read more

Tags: stabilise, halifax, housing market, royal, rate, term interest, england, likelihood

Interest rates rise

Credit card and mortgage holders and those with loans have been hit with yet another interest rate rise.

The Bank of England’s Monetry Policy Committee (MPC) has decided to increase the base rate to its highest level for six years.

It now stands at 5.75 per cent and some industry experts have been warning of big financial repercussions for many people.

The decision by the MPC is the fifth rate rise in a year and many borrowers simply would not have been prepared.

Industry figures have been predicting rises for some time and this latest one came as no surprise, but those who borrowed money a few years ago had no idea that things would change so much.

The MPC took the decision in an attempt to bring inflation under control.

“The committee judged that, relative to the two per cent target, the balance of risks to the outlook for inflation in the medium term continued to lie to the upside,” the MPC said in a statement.

“Against that background, it further judged that an increase in Bank Rate of 0.25 percentage points to 5.75 per cent was necessary to meet the two per cent target for CPI [Consumer Price Index] inflation in the medium term.”

Tags: level, rise, policy committee, Andrew Sentance, highest level, term interest, money, Monetry