
UK Mortgage Approvals Hit Six-Month Low After Rate Rises
UK mortgage approvals fell more than forecast in August as the housing market slowdown gathered pace.
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UK mortgage approvals fell more than forecast in August as the housing market slowdown gathered pace.
The Riksbank’s next move in its battle to curb inflation remains shrouded in uncertainty, with a decision to keep rates unchanged in November a possibility despite concern over stubborn price increases on services, Deputy Governor Martin Floden said.
China’s economy showed signs of a stronger recovery in September, according to several early indicators and a firm analyzing the global economy using satellite data.
Thailand’s capital city will add a third passenger terminal to its biggest airport as the Southeast Asian nation prepares for a surge in tourist arrivals under a visa waiver program for Chinese visitors during the peak holiday season.
A UK fund manager is planning to capitalize on the distress in Britain’s housing market by purchasing homes from troubled landlords and renting them out.
Feb 21, 2019
Bloomberg News
,Canadians are ramping up borrowing against their homes even as the real estate market slumps, exposing the country’s financial system to vulnerabilities, rating company DBRS said.
Home equity lines of credit, or Helocs, reached a record $243 billion as of Oct. 31, or 11.3 per cent of total household credit, the highest share since mid-2015, analysts including Robert Colangelo said in a report Thursday. Borrowing to fund everything from home renovations to car purchases has grown faster than residential mortgages since 2017, and undrawn commitments at the large Canadian banks stood at $120 billion.
“The flexibility of Helocs could increase financial system vulnerabilities,” the analysts said. “In the event of a correction, borrowers could find themselves with a debt load that exceeds the value of their home, which is often referred to as negative equity.”
In addition, Heloc borrowing may also make it more difficult for lenders to identify emerging credit problems, because borrowers can use Helocs to manage increases in their debt loads by consolidating high-interest loans into a secured credit line that charges a lower interest rate, according to the report.
Toronto-Dominion Bank has the largest exposure to Helocs at about 39 per cent, followed by Royal Bank of Canada at 18 per cent and the other large banks averaging 11 per cent, according to the report.
Sales of new homes in Toronto sunk to the lowest in almost two decades in 2018 and the supply of unsold condos piled up, according to the Building Industry and Land Development Association report released Feb. 1. In Vancouver, homes sales fell almost 40 per cent in January from the same month a year earlier.