Worldwide Financial Planning

The update from the IMF is rare good news for the Treasury as it gets ready for next week’s Budget. The government appears to have overdone its efforts to pave the way for spending cuts and tax rises.

At the beginning of this rate rise, we were clear they wouldn’t rocket as the mainstream press said, and we explained that in this column. They haven’t. In conversations we are having with borrowers it’s clear that fear has stuck, so let’s look at the facts again.

The European Central Bank rate cut was in line with expectations, however, Christine Lagarde’s comments appeared much more confident about the end of inflation in the Eurozone and clear the way for the bank to concentrate on the low economic growth in the region.

We covered the different measures used when assessing the housing market last week, due to the discrepancy between prices rising at ‘record highs’, versus the very low volume of housing sales, and the news that the number of estate agents declaring insolvency jumped by a third last year.

In the UK, there is a further complication from the upcoming budget. The chancellor is widely expected to change government borrowing rules and a significant change could free up billions in potential additional borrowing to fund the government’s growth plans.

You will see many house-price financial columns quote the relevant indices. All of them will say they are the best, longest running etc. So, which is the more accurate to use so you understand what house prices are really doing?