November 2021

WEEKLY NEWS HEADLINES FROM AROUND THE WORLD – W/e Nov 21st 2021 WORLD NEWS In world news over the weekend our ongoing fight against the global pandemic Covid-19 appears to be moving in to another decisive period. In Ireland and the UK we are facing a 4th wave of the virus 🦠 with transmission levels increasingly at a worrying rate. Another National lockdown begins today in Austria whilst here we await the guidance on the new Covid status arrangements for going about our normal business in NI. LOCAL AND NETWORK NEWS The BBC is in the spotlight with over 50 people leaving BBC Northern Ireland since January 2020 including the latest departure of the very popular well known presenter Donna Traynor last week. I’m sure like many people it feels we all grew up with Donna in our house as she was an ever present figure over the past thirty plus years. Wishing Donna well in the future! In London the BBC was also in the news with The Mail reporting “Royals at war with BBC over tittle tattle documentary”. Senior royals are threatening to boycott the broadcaster over a documentary set to air this week about the feuding between the princes. At a time when there are so many real life challenges it is hard to take this headline or story seriously, never mind a front page exclusive. 🤷‍♀️ PROPERTY NEWS Reports at the weekend that some lenders will be offering fixed term mortgages at rates less than 3% for up to 30 years is a very interesting development. There are a couple of things to keep an eye on here. The first is that it is clearly an attempt to attract borrowers at a time when interest rates look likely to be about to start increasing and the attraction would be certainty for borrowers as opposed to the likely changes that will occur on variable rates. The back story to this is more interesting for those of us involved in property as it looks like large insurance and pension funds are beginning to return to fund mortgage lending and loans. In my opinion this is very good news for the property market in the longer term as these funds target longer term sustainable returns for their investors. They clearly see the market continuing to thrive in the years ahead as governments and private industry continue to build and improve housing stock to meet the ongoing demand. Have a great week all and we will be back next Monday morning with our weekly news review. 👏  

WEEKLY NEWS HEADLINES FROM AROUND THE WORLD – W/e Nov 7th 2021 WORLD NEWS In a week when the world leaders arrived at COP26 in Glasgow, we were reminded of how insignificant we all are (all 8bn of us!), as we adjust to the new seemingly irreversible adverse impact climate change. Whilst the news headlines focused on the Queen’s casual reference to her own mortality, the takeaway message was that “we are literally digging our own graves”, with our own mining and excavation.  Hopefully the outcomes of COP 26 will be the catalyst for the change we all need. UK NEWS In a UK context, this week the big news was the Bank of England (BoE) signalling its intention to raise interest rates in the coming months to tackle high levels of inflation. BoE Governor, Andrew Bailey, described the 7/2 decision to hold interest rates for now as a “close call”. In a memorable comment, Bailey said “putting interest rates up, I’m afraid, isn’t going to get us more gas”! Expect interest rates to increase gradually over the coming year, as the BoE assesses the economy’s emergence in the aftermath of the pandemic.  POLITICAL NEWS In politics here, we had the “Ulsterisation of Britain” as Newton Emerson described it. The lobbying scandal engulfing Owen Patterson (MP) and his links with 2 companies here in NI (who have done nothing wrong) was like something you would see in an episode of House of Cards! Corruption and cover up has no place in a credible government and voters have little enough faith in politicians, less so when a government attempts to change the law because one of its elite broke it!  BUSINESS NEWS In business here, the big news of the week was the reported record profits of the Musgrave Group, of near €100mn. Sales in their Centra and Supervalu stores across NI, ROI and Spain soared to €6.1bn in 2020. This is proof (if we ever needed it) that we all ate and drank our way through the lockdowns of the pandemic!  PROPERTY NEWS According to the latest Halifax monthly house price index, the average price of a home in NI has risen to £169,308, 11.3% higher than 12months ago, the strongest growth in 4months.  Some 3830 homes were sold in NI during the month of September. The key factors leading to such a buoyant market include that race for space from all market segments; first time buyers being supported by parental deposits and historically low borrowing costs.