House prices in England and Wales rose by an annual 1.8 percent this month, their fastest pace of increase since January 2008, property data company Hometrack said yesterday.
Monthly house price growth slowed, however, to 0.2 percent this month from 0.3 percent last month on a non-seasonally adjusted basis, Hometrack’s monthly survey of estimates of realistic selling prices from estate agents and surveyors showed.
This monthly rise was driven by a 0.6 percent increase in London, whereas prices in other regions were more typically flat or up by just 0.1 percent. Yorkshire and Humberside, in northern England, recorded a 0.1 percent price fall.
Hometrack said the supply of property coming on to the market rose by 3.7 percent, outstripping a 1 percent increase in new buyers registering with agents.
“Fewer bargain properties on the market ... when set against a backdrop of sluggish economic growth and rising unemployment levels, have led to increased caution among buyers,” Hometrack said, noting the May 6 election was also causing buyers to wait.
“The bounce in market confidence over 2009 was all about pent-up demand feeding back into an under-supplied market. However, the fundamental issues which have plagued the economy for some time still remain,” Hometrack’s director of research Richard Donnell said.
Mortgage lenders Halifax and Nationwide have reported that property prices have risen almost 10 percent from a low hit about a year ago, but access to finance is still hard for many buyers after the credit crunch.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique