Martin Bikhit
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Agencies & People
The agent who got into bed with Warren Buffett
Five years ago Martin Bikhit signed up his London agency to join Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway empire. The Neg finds out how it’s going.
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Latest property news
Interest rate rise – will it turn the dials in the housing market?
The decision by the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to introduce an interest rate rise of 0.25% a percent to 0.5% in order to keep inflation in check was applauded in most business circles as a prudent first move to ‘sensible’ interest rates after nearly eight years of rock bottom rates. The move is intended to dampen down the economy mildly and rein-in inflation, which currently stands at 3% and is expected to peak higher than that before the MPC’s measures kick in. Bank of England Mark Carney said the inflation increases were due largely to the weakening of Sterling following the Brexit vote. “The decision to leave the European Union is having a noticeable impact on the economic outlook,” he said. “We need to support the economy during this adjustment process.” But what does the property industry think of an interest rate rise? Russell Quirk of eMoov, who was first out of the blocks into the news studios yesterday, said the rise would only add £16 a month the average mortgage holder and would be “water off a duck’s back for those with a fixed rate security blanket”. But what did the rest of the industry think.…
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Latest property news
Hung parliament: the property industry’s first responses
There are many people who won’t be thanking Theresa May for yesterday’s election and today’s hung parliament including her Housing Minister Gavin Barwell who lost his seat last night in Croydon Central. But it’s clear from the property industry’s reaction to the hung parliament result that the political uncertainty that Theresa May has managed to pluck from the jaws of stability following the EU Referendum, is not welcome. The housing market hates uncertainty – people buying and selling their most prized and valuable asset don’t like moving when an election is looming, and particularly when it’s the third national vote in two years. RICS released research yesterday revealing the damage that the election had already done to the property market. It said that a drop in the number of properties coming on the market during May had been “exacerbated by the General Election, as some adopt a ‘wait and see’ approach”. “In May, 25% more respondents cited a decline in fresh listings (compared to those reporting a rise), producing the most negative reading since July 2016,” the RICS report said. Nick Leeming, Chairman, Jackson-Stops & Staff “The UK was promised a period of stability but today’s announcement provides anything but at…
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Housing Market
Onwards and upwards?
Marc Da Silva asks property people to predict market trends for the year.
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