Fed cut the rate again, as everyone expected by Corina Ciubotaru

As financial market analysts expected, the Fed cut rates on short-term loans once again, this time by quarter of a point. The move doesn't guarantee a quick recovery of the American economy, most analysts agree, but it is intended to give lenders a small boost as they can now return their own loans at much smaller costs. But even as some believe the risk of recession is still over 50 percent, economy indicators show it's still growing at a rate of 3.9 according to last quarter's figures. The dollar weakened a bit and the price of gold and oil rose again, but unemployment is still low and consumer spending rose by 3 percent. It's still the housing market that's doing badly, because buyers are having a hard time getting loans, so home builders will be in a slump of their own until house prices fall enough to make them affordable. The median price of houses decreased for eight consecutive months and analysts predict they will keep the same trend before demand rebounds. Consumer confidence is lowering and this is something that should scare policy-makers: a fifth of those surveyed said they believe there will be fewer jobs in the next six months, while less than 25 percent of them think there is enough employment, the lowest rate in the last year. Oil prices lowered by $3.27 to $90.26 today on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while the most important stock indicators Nasdaq, Standard & Poor's 500 and the Dow Jones average, haven't moved much, but their moves were mostly downward.

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071031/ap_on_bi_ge/fed_interest_rates_housing;_ylt=Ar8kgmfwJluIXlihbrKIlsas0NUE

by Corina Ciubotaru for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

PocketNews is a new real-time news broadcaster delivering the latest and hottest news right to your pocket ! With global clients who want to be kept up to date, PocketNews is everyone's way of keeping in touch with the World.

Prices of homes down, mortgage applications up by Nina Gotzmannova

The crisis of U. S. housing market is not over. All the predictions and hopes were wrong and in September things went worse. National Association of Realtors revealed on Wednesday numbers of September and they showed a sharp decline. In August there was 5.48 million sold homes. In September the sale decreased 8 percent to 5.04 million. That is the lowest number since 1999. Also the national median price for a home dropped 5.7 percent from August. The average single-family home or condominium was in September $ 211,700. Last year in September it was 4.2 percent more. But the condominiums are selling better than single-family homes. Most probably people decide to live on their own without a family, or choose to live in a smaller place, because the sales of single-family homes dropped more that condos. In September only 4.38 million people purchased their new nest, in comparison with August, when the same decision made 4.79 million people. The loss is 8.6 percent. This situation may be caused by tightening of credit in August. There was also a danger of dispossession of U. S. subprime mortgages borrowed to people with fishy borrowing histories. People with financial troubles in past choose to wait for a better situation rather than purchase a home now, because they should be rejected. Never mind they can wait several years… On the other hand, the number of mortgage applications is growing. At the first glance positive sign is unfortunately negative. This rising number is only a result of difficulties the prospective borrowers have and therefore are forced to fill more applications at different companies to get one loan.

related story: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20071024/tbs-uk-usa-economy-4210405_1.html

by Nina Gotzmannova for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

PocketNews is a new real-time news broadcaster delivering the latest and hottest news right to your pocket ! With global clients who want to be kept up to date, PocketNews is everyone's way of keeping in touch with the World.

Now you can get 1.4 of a British house! by Barbie Kunkelova

Be prepared to withdraw £198,500 from your wallet, pockets and accounts for an average UK property. Due to the five famous increases in real estates market since the summer of 2006, the UK citizens are now facing a pretty special case & a downturn in price of houses! The UK's biggest mortgage lender, the Halifax, stated that its prices fell by 0.6% this September. The price growth has been slowed down; this quarter's sales rose only by 0.9%, while in previous quarters the increases were of 2.3% and 3%. However, the leaders of real estate and mortgage companies do neither worry nor fret too much about this news. They are sure the UK market is in a great vital state and this drop is only a usual part of a market's behavior, so very typical for any autumn in any country. A nice drop in house price has been happening in Ireland too, during the past three months there was a drop of 3.2%, ladies and gentlemen! Such situation hit Japan in 1980s. In the end it led the country of the rising sun to lower consumer spending! Similar problems are facing citizens of the US, though on a much milder basis. Since last autumn, the American house prices fell down by 1.3%! I wish we had the same problem in Slovakia…

related story: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/afp/20071010/thl-health-sport-running-shoes-96993ab_1.html

by Barbie Kunkelova for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

PocketNews is a new real-time news broadcaster delivering the latest and hottest news right to your pocket ! With global clients who want to be kept up to date, PocketNews is everyone's way of keeping in touch with the World.