The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors says yesterday’s cut in the Bank of England’s main interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 5.5% will provide relief for 1.4m homeowners who are due to refinance their mortgages.
It said its support for the cut was based on the recent run of disappointing economic data which extended beyond the housing market.
The City predicts interest rates will fall to 5% by the middle of next year and to 4% in the build-up to the next general election.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said in its twice- yearly Economic Outlook that the UK’s housing market was at greater risk of a downturn than other countries.
Traders said the Bank of England had not done enough to prevent a sharp economic slowdown. Persimmon fell 45.5p to 750.5p, Barratt Developments, 19.5p to 448.25p, Bovis, 16.5p to 603.5p, Berkeley Group Holdings, 87p to 1,251p and Taylor Wimpey, 3.75p to 199.25p.
07/12/07 Financial Times 1, 2, 5, 14, 15, 18, 20, 22, 42 Times 1, 2, 8, 9, 23, 58, 71 Daily Telegraph 1, 4, 28, B1, B5, B7 Guardian 1, 4, 5, 34, 40, 44 Independent 46, 54, 57, 62
