House prices are falling and mortgage rates are starting to follow suit, meaning an ideal buying opportunity could be just around the corner. So where should you hold your deposit in the meantime?
The recent crackdown on payment protection insurance could see lenders hiking their personal loan rates.
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The credit crunch may have sent stocks spiralling, but the price of gold has risen 9% in the last year.
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Surveyors report a big rise in the numbers of people letting property, with the result that rents are likely to fall over the next six months.
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It seems unthinkable but all my instincts tell me this bear market is nowhere near being finished.
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In such a volatile environment, variable savings rates are always going to be a risk. But when it seems almost certain those rates will plummet, it becomes a risk not worth taking.
Damian Clarkson,
Journalist
Savers should think twice before stashing their money in inflation-linked savings products, with the Retail Prices Index (RPI) set to plummet in the coming months.
The UK inflation rate as measured by the Consumer Price Index dropped from 5.2% in September to 4.5% in October and is set to go on falling sharply over the next six months.
In all six recessions I can remember, inflation and interest rates went up at the same time as unemployment. Next year will be very different.
The Competition Commission wants to ban lenders from selling payment protection insurance within 14 days of a customer taking out credit.
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Investing
Recent government statistics show that, although 97% of eligible parents are aware of the CTF, only 74% continue to open accounts for their children.
Staff writer,
Staff writer
The government should scrap the cash account Child Trust Fund (CTF) option as it offers poor returns and merely complicates the entire CTF scheme, says Family Investments.
The last two months have seen panic in financial markets on a bigger scale than any time since 1974. As usual, it’s throwing up some good investment opportunities.
A financial crisis in developed economies has caused stock markets across the world to crash. But unless the world goes bust, this presents huge profit opportunities.
Everyone else is getting punished as a result of the crunch, now it’s the children’s turn, with interest rates on kiddie saver accounts slashed across the board last week.
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Property
FTBs are unlikely to see an increase in the number of high LTV deals until house prices level off.
Damian Clarkson,
Journalist
While fixed rate deals for existing homeowners tumble as low as 4.49%, first time buyers are still being forced to pay over 6.5%.
Lenders are reintroducing their tracker deals after the surprise 1.5% base rate cut, but homeowners will be disappointed by the uncompetitive rates.
Tracker mortgages are now more expensive and the best deals in mortgages are likely to be fixed rates.
Nationwide Building Society believes it may be 2010 before house prices bounce back from the current slump.
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Share Tips
I can think of a whole raft of shares where investors would have done well to panic, and I'm not just talking about banks.
Kewill Ludens,
Editor
I read loads of stuff about the stock market every day. There are experts putting both sides of the argument.
On 13 November there was a concerted effort to give shares in this giant US conglomerate a boost.
This UK maintenance and construction company will cut 750 jobs by the end of the year after a slump in building spread from private to public projects.
The problem with share rallies is that the background fundamentals are so bad that recoveries are doomed to run into the sand.
