01 mai 2008
For Europe’s Middle-Class, Stagnant Wages Stunt Lifestyle
source: The New-York Times
In France, when you can’t afford a baguette anymore, you know you’re in trouble,” Ms. Renard said one recent evening in her kitchen, as her partner measured powdered milk for their 13-month-old son, Vincent. “The French Revolution started with bread riots.”
The European dream is under assault, as the wave of inflation sweeping the globe mixes with this continent’s long-stagnant wages. Families that once enjoyed Europe’s vaunted quality of life are pinching pennies to buy necessities, and cutting back on extras like movies and vacations abroad.
Hammerson Says U.K. Commercial Property Fall Extends (Update2)
source: Bloomberg
Miranda Cockburn, an analyst at JPMorgan Cazenove Ltd. in London who rates the shares ``outperform,'' widened her estimate for the drop in the value of Hammerson's assets this year to 7.1 percent from 5.1 percent. ``This reflects a more cautious view regarding U.K. shopping centers this year as well as more severe valuation declines in the French office portfolio,
Huge falls in US property prices bring little hope for end to credit malaise
source: The Independent
Just as unbridled confidence once created a feverish psychology dictating that property prices could only ever go up, now it seems US home buyers are frightened that if they venture into the market for a bargain, they will be merely catching a falling knife. Why buy now, they ask, when prices in six months or a year will be even lower – and that is if they can find a mortgage. This deflationary mindset goes some way to explaining the malaise in the US sub-prime and the wider "prime" property market, and, thus, the continuing global credit crisis.
Too soon to relax
source: The Economist
The malaise that started the crisis—the American housing market—is still getting worse. The month-on-month decline in the Case-Shiller index of house prices in 20 large cities is accelerating; on the latest reckoning, it was down by 12.7% over the 12 months to February 29th. As the decline continues, more homeowners will default on their loans.
Ben's blind
source: The Economist
THE spirit of St Augustine hovered over the Federal Reserve this week. “Oh Lord, let us stop cutting interest rates, but not yet,” is pretty much what America’s central bankers decided on Wednesday April 30th. The Fed’s governors cut their policy rate by another quarter-point, to 2%. But the accompanying statement gave a small hint that they may now pause.
The glass half empty
source: The Economist
AS THE effects of the credit crunch spread, economic forecasters have become more pessimistic.
Chute plus forte que prévu des dépenses de construction aux USA
source: La Tribune
La construction résidentielle privée a chuté de 4,6% en mars, un record, signe que la crise du marché de l'immobilier aux États-Unis continue de frapper l'ensemble du secteur.
GB/BoE: pertes financières "probablement surestimées" mais reprise progressive
source: Romandie News
Londres (AWP/AFX) - Les pertes issues de la crise du crédit au Royaume-Uni sont "probablement surestimées" par les banques mais des risques continuent de planer sur l'économie et le rétablissement des marchés financiers se fera progressivement, a noté jeudi la Banque d'Angleterre (BoE).
NI house prices face £75,000 drop
source: BBC.News
In recent months, property prices have been aggressively reduced but some of these house price falls, in our view, have still not fed into the official statistics," he told the Irish News newspaper.
"We believe that the current Northern Ireland average house price is closer to £200,000 and we are anticipating it to fall by a further 12.5% to reach £175,000 by the end of 2008.