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☆ UK buyers retreat from housing market, further slowdown seen - RICS
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Suban Abdulla | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, July 13 (Reuters) - Britain's housing market showed signs of a slowdown in June and property surveyors expect activity to remain subdued as higher borrowing costs hit new buyer enquiries, according to an industry survey on Thursday. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said a net balance of -45 in a poll of its members reported a fall in new buyer enquiries last month, down from the -20 in May. Britain's housing market faces pressure from softer buyer demand and falling house prices against a backdrop of surging mortgage rates and the Bank of England's battle to tame stubborn inflation. Average two-year fixed mortgage rates hit a 15-year high earlier this week. British mortgage lender Halifax, last week said house prices fell by 2.6% year-on-year in June, the largest annual drop since 2011.

Persons: Liz Truss's, Simon Rubinsohn, Rubinsohn, Suban Abdulla, David Milliken Organizations: Royal Institution, Chartered Surveyors, Bank of, Financial, Halifax, Nationwide, Thomson

☆ Women executives are more stressed than ever. KPMG thinks AI will fix that.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Josée Rose | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

"We truly believe that AI has a role to play in de-stressing the workplace," a KPMG exec said. Women executives continue to feel "heightened responsibilities around workplace stress and life stress. The results are based on a survey of more than 1,500 female executives in the US. One cause of — and a possible way to alleviate — workplace stress is generative AI, Newinski said. Employers have an "opportunity to create a safe place with and take the stress level down" in terms of AI, Newinski said.

Persons: —, Laura Newinski, Newinski, aren't, you've Organizations: KPMG, Service, Women, Employers Locations: United States

☆ UK housing market improves but slowdown seen as rates rise-RICS
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Suban Abdulla | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

RICS' house price balance, which measures the difference between the percentage of surveyors seeing rises and falls in house prices, increased to -30 last month from -39 in April. However, analysts are forecasting another slowdown for the housing market with markets largely expecting the BoE's Bank Rate to peak at 5.5% later this year, up from 4.5% now. Britain's housing market staged a recovery earlier this year after former prime minister Liz Truss's "mini-budget" caused turmoil in financial markets in September and sent the cost of fixed mortgage rates sharply higher to above 6%. Britain's biggest mortgage lender, Halifax, on Wednesday said house prices dropped by 1.0% year-on-year in May, the first annual decline since 2012. Some mortgage lenders, including Halifax and Nationwide Building Society have ramped up their fixed mortgage rates in response to the rise in borrowing costs in financial markets.

Persons: RICS, Tarrant Parsons, Liz Truss's, BoE, Suban Abdulla, William Schomberg Organizations: Bank of England, Royal Institution, Chartered Surveyors, Nationwide, Nationwide Building Society, Thomson Locations: April's, Halifax

☆ What’s a President to Do When a Nation’s Capital Is Sinking? Move It.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Hannah Beech | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +38 min

A new capital city for a place with such disparities and diversity presents both a challenge and a chance for reinvention. Moving the Seat of Power From Java to Borneo Detail area Malaysia Nusantara Borneo Java Sea Indonesia Jakarta Java Indian Ocean Detail area Malaysia Nusantara Borneo Java Sea Indonesia Jakarta Java Indian Ocean Indonesia’s new capital, Nusantara, will be about 800 miles from the current capital, Jakarta. It cannot be overnight, it’s not like Aladdin comes with his genie,” said Bambang Susantono, the head of the Nusantara Capital City Authority. We have to prove that this will be a self-propelling city.” — Bambang Susantono, head of the Nusantara Capital City AuthorityCritics of I.K.N. Indonesia’s capital city faces sinking land and rising seas.

☆ These 2 millennial brothers quit their jobs to focus on their side hustle so they could 'get out of bed and not dread work'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Josh and Arran Stewart quit their jobs in March to focus full-time on their side hustle. They started clothing brand Illicit Bloc with about $2,500 after being furloughed in the pandemic. After being furloughed, the brothers decided to launch their clothing brand, Illicit Bloc, as a side hustle in April 2020. After the brand started gaining some traction last year, the brothers from Buckinghamshire in England realized it might be time to focus on their side hustle full-time. Arran and Josh Stewart work together on the design and sampling.

☆ 27-year-old pays $0 to live in a ‘luxury tiny home’—how she built it for $35,000: 'I forget I'm living in a shed'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( Precious Price | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

In 2020, I built a tiny home in the backyard of my 1,400-square-foot house in Atlanta, Georgia for about $35,000. A lot of the time, I forget I'm living in a shed. Tiny homes are just beginning to gain traction in the U.S., but the process isn't as straightforward as it should be. Do a quick Google search with your city's name and the terms "zoning map" or "zoning office." Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Precious used a lofted shed from Liberty Storage Solutions as the base of her tiny home.

☆ British home-buyers, facing higher interest rates, retreat in April - RICS
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Suban Abdulla | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, May 11 (Reuters) - British property surveyors reported a drop in demand in April as new buyers turned more cautious ahead of the Bank of England's latest expected interest rate increase, an industry survey showed on Thursday. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said its measure of new buyer enquiries fell to a net balance of -37 in last month from -30 in March, the lowest since January. Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at RICS, said the survey pointed to challenges in terms of sales and lettings. The net balance of agreed house sales across Britain fell slightly but respondents noted a pick-up in the number of properties on the market. Data from mortgage lender Halifax published on Tuesday showed house prices grew at the slowest annual pace in more than 10 years in April.

☆ A commuter train excavation near Notre Dame Cathedral has uncovered a 2,000-year-old necropolis containing bodies buried with coins in their mouths and an entire pig skeleton
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Remains of at least 50 men, women, and children were unearthed during excavation for a train line. The burials of a large necropolis, located south of Lutèce in the 2nd century AD , have been unearthed. The burials of a large necropolis, located south of Lutèce in the 2nd century AD, have been unearthed. One pit unearthed by the researchers contained the skeleton of a whole pig, though it is unclear what purpose it may have served. The burials of a large necropolis, located south of Lutèce in the 2nd century of our era, have been brought to light.

The commodity-heavy FTSE 100 (.FTSE) edged 0.1% lower, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 (.FTMC) was flat as of 0814 GMT. "Gains in homebuilders is being counteracted by ex-dividend moves today," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG Group. Even as concerns over a potential U.S. recession have weighed on investor sentiment, defensive stocks such as pharmaceuticals as well as commodity-linked stocks have kept FTSE 100 afloat recently. Shares of Lloyds Group (LLOY.L), Unite Group (UTG.L) and Persimmon (PSN.L) among others were down between 1.7%-3% as the stocks traded ex-dividend. Reporting by Shristi Achar A in Bengaluru; Editing by Sohini Goswami and Janane VenkatramanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ UK housing market weakness continues, improvement on the horizon - RICS
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Suban Abdulla | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

RICS's gauges of buyer demand, sales, new listings and house prices were all in negative territory last month. However, its indicators looking ahead pointed to hints of stability in Britain's housing market in the coming 12 months. The sales expectations balance for 12 months' time rose to +1, its highest since March 2022. Mortgage lender Nationwide reported a 3.1% drop in house prices in the year to March - the fastest annual fall since July 2009 - while rival Halifax said prices grew 1.6% year-on-year. Its non-seasonally adjusted monthly tenant demand growth indicator hit a five-month high, with a net balance of +46.

☆ California Snowpack Is Among the Highest Ever Recorded
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Jim Carlton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Surveyors from the California Department of Water Resources measured a snow field in the Sierra Nevada Mountains on Monday. California’s snowpack ranks as the biggest in at least 40 years, giving much needed relief to crippling drought but leaving many rural communities under threat of major flooding when the frozen bounty melts. Surveyors from the California Department of Water Resources on Monday conducted manual measurements of a snow field near Lake Tahoe, where they said the 126.5 inches was among the deepest since the hand tallies were first carried out more than a century ago. The water equivalent was 54 inches.

☆ UK house price slide accelerates in March: Nationwide
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, March 31 (Reuters) - British house prices slid in March at the fastest annual rate since the financial crisis, mortgage lender Nationwide said on Friday. House prices fell 3.1% year-on-year, the biggest such drop since July 2009, Nationwide said. Economists polled by Reuters had expected prices to fall by 2.2% from a year earlier and by 0.3% in monthly terms. Nationwide said the market was still feeling the effects of a "turning point" last year - the September economic agenda of former prime minister Liz Truss, which prompted a confidence crisis in British assets and hammered the mortgage market. Reporting by Andy Bruce; editing by Kate HoltonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

LONDON, March 21 (Reuters) - The London Metal Exchange (LME) has discovered that some of its registered nickel is missing. Bags of stones shouldn't pass any inspection, whether at original load-in or during the annual audit of registered stock required by the LME's warehousing agreement. But it folds into the bigger issues around the exchange's governance and regulatory capacity after the blow-out of the nickel contract this time last year. BROKEN NICKELThe latest scandal will also intensify the question of whether the LME nickel contract is fulfilling the function of efficient price discovery forum. The nickel market was already looking for different pricing solutions before the March 8, 2022 suspension of LME nickel trading.

☆ JPMorgan Chase thought it had $1.3 million worth of nickel stored in a warehouse. A closer examination revealed bags of stones.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

JPMorgan Chase kept bags of stones in a Dutch warehouse thinking they were nickel, according to the WSJ. The owner of the bags is reportedly JPMorgan Chase, according to the Journal. Had they contained nickel, the bags would have been worth $1.3 million at current prices, representing 0.14% of nickel inventories, Bloomberg reported. JPMorgan Chase reportedly bought the bags years ago and remains an active player in big metals, the Journal said. JPMorgan Chase and the LME also did not immediately respond to Insider's request for a comment.

☆ UK house prices slide further but market pessimism eases: RICS
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Suban Abdulla | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) house price balance, which measures the difference between the percentage of surveyors seeing rises and falls in house prices, fell to -48 in February from -46 the previous month - the lowest reading since April 2009. While Thursday's survey still showed the housing market firmly in decline, some measures indicated that a more stable picture was emerging in 2023, RICS said. Tarrant Parsons, senior economist at RICS, said he expected housing market activity to remain subdued over the coming months. "Given the ongoing weakness in demand, house prices remain on a downward trajectory, and are expected to see further falls through the first half of the year at least," Parsons said. In contrast, another lender, Nationwide, last week said house prices dropped by the most in more than 10 years in February.

☆ UK housing market hit by widest prices falls since 2009 - RICS
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( William Schomberg | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) house price balance, which measures the gap between the percentage of surveyors seeing rises and falls in house prices, fell to -47, the lowest since April 2009, from -42 in December. Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at RICS, said the overall mood of the market as measured by surveyors remained subdued. Other housing market measures have also recently shown a loss of momentum following the surge in demand seen during the coronavirus pandemic. A Reuters poll of economists and analysts in November predicted house prices would fall around 5% this year having surged by 28% since the start of the pandemic in 2020. RICS said the rental market continued to show strong interest from tenants with limited availability of stock.

☆ UK house prices end 2022 on a weaker note after pandemic boom
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Muvija M | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The lender also said that the final month of 2022 saw prices record their worst run since 2008 on a monthly basis, falling 0.1% compared with November in their fourth consecutive monthly price fall. In annual terms, house price growth slowed to 2.8% in December from 4.4% in November, Nationwide said, compared with the 2.3% growth forecast in a Reuters poll. That has marked a slowdown from last year when price growth reached multi-year highs due to strong demand as people desired bigger homes more suited for remote working during the health crisis. NEW YEAR ACTIVITYEarlier in December, a survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) showed the most widespread house price falls in Britain since early in the pandemic last month. If sustained, this should feed through to mortgage rates and help improve the affordability position for potential buyers," he added.

☆ Hong Kong November home prices ease to more than 5-yr low
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

HONG KONG, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Hong Kong private home prices dropped 3.3% in November to the lowest since August 2017, official data showed on Wednesday, as its housing market - one of the most unaffordable in the world - is set to post the first annual drop since 2008. November's fall in home prices came after a revised 2.7% drop in October. Home prices in Hong Kong have fallen 13.8% in the first 110 months of the year. For 2023, real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield expects home prices to be 0-5% lower than this year, with prices stabilizing in the second half after an expected peak of interest rates. Another consultancy, JLL, expects prices to fall another 10% next year for the mass market.

☆ UK sees most widespread house price falls since May 2020: RICS
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( David Milliken | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said that its house price net balance - which measures the difference between the percentage of surveyors seeing rises and falls in house prices - sank to -25 in November. Price falls were particularly common in southeast and southwest England, while prices continued to rise modestly in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The RICS survey matches other measures of house price weakness from British mortgage lenders. Halifax reported on Wednesday that house prices recorded their biggest monthly drop since 2008 in November, falling by 2.8%, while Nationwide measured its biggest fall since June 2020. A Reuters poll of economists and property market analysts last month forecast house prices would drop around 5% next year, having risen about 24% since early 2020, according to official data.

☆ Jennifer Lopez on what she learned from Warren Buffet — and other tips from celebrities on how to become a successful entrepreneur
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Eboni Boykin-Patterson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Hollywood Reporter released its second annual list of the top 40 celebrity entrepreneurs. Jennifer LopezThe best business advice Jennifer Lopez ever received came from Warren Buffet. Lopez said that the best business advice she's ever received came from Warren Buffet: "A brand is a promise." After founding the business with his co-founder, Evan Goldberg, Rogen said he's learned how to scale without compromising on product quality. but also added that the best business advice he's ever received was to "Be focused."

☆ UK house price rally to end next year but no big crash expected
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Jonathan Cable | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

House prices fell for the first time in 28 months in October, according to a survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors which also showed a measure of expectations for house prices in 12 months' time slumped. During the financial crisis house prices fell around 19% from peak to trough but have since roughly doubled, according to Land Registry data. When asked about the chance of a price crash within a year nine of 16 respondents said it was high or very high. Rating the value of national house prices on a scale of 1 to 10 from extremely cheap to extremely expensive, the median response from analysts was 8, up from August's 7 estimate. In London, usually bolstered by foreign investment and a dearth of supply, the median forecast showed prices would fall 7.0% next year.

As food prices have risen, a U.S Census survey showed the share of households reporting food scarcity rising from 7.8% in August 2021 to 11.4% as of early October. As with other goods and services, there is a broad set of forces behind the Thanksgiving food spike. Thanksgiving-related travel this year may at least be cheaper than it was, with airline and fuel prices having declined recently. Discounted turkey prices often lure consumers to grocery stores and supermarkets, and bargains intensify as the holiday approaches. The Farm Bureau noted that frozen turkey prices had fallen to 95 cents a pound as of this week.

☆ UK property market at risk of major downturn as recession fears loom
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Matt Cardy | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesLONDON — The U.K. property market may be verging on a major downturn, with some market watchers warning of a collapse in prices of up to 30% as data points to the biggest slump in demand since the Global Financial Crisis. Meantime, the MSCI UK Quarterly Property Index, which tracks retail, office, industrial and residential property, slumped 4.3% in the three months to September, marking the sector's worst performance since 2009. The investment bank now sees U.K. property prices declining by around 10% by the second quarter of 2023. Rising interest rates, soaring inflation and the economic shock from Russia's war in Ukraine have weighed heavy on the global housing market. Indeed, according to Goldman Sachs' analysis, for every one percentage point increase in the U.K. unemployment rate, mortgage delinquency tends to rise by over 20 basis points after one year.

☆ UK house prices fall as buyers count cost of mini-budget, property website Rightmove says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Suban Abdulla | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Asking prices for British residential properties are dropping and there are signs that the fallout from the "mini-budget" bond market rout is weighing on first-time buyers, property website Rightmove said on Monday. Asking prices for homes dropped 1.1%, or by 4,159 pounds ($4,886.41) month-on-month in the Oct. 9 - Nov. 5 period, after a 0.9% rise over the previous month, Rightmove said. But Rightmove said former prime minister Liz Truss’s growth plan, which triggered a steep rise in borrowing costs when it was announced in September, accelerated Britain’s property market slowdown. Rates have since eased back after the announcement of Rishi Sunak as prime minister calmed financial markets. In annual terms, property prices were up 7.2% in November, slowing from a rise of 7.8% the month before.

"The chancellor will come to the despatch box," he said when asked by Sky News whether the corporation tax plan would definitely stay. Newspapers reported that some lawmakers who never wanted Truss to replace Boris Johnson as leader in the first place already wanted her out. "I think that changing the leadership would be a disastrously bad idea, not just politically but also economically, and we are absolutely going to stay focused on growing the economy," Cleverly said of Truss. But a fire-sale in the government bond market has driven up borrowing costs and mortgage rates and forced the Bank of England to intervene to protect pension funds. read moreMeanwhile, as Truss battled with the turmoil, she met King Charles for a weekly audience at Buckingham Palace between monarch and prime minister on Wednesday.

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