Britain’s housing market is “treading water”, according to the Nationwide building society. Prices rose by a slightly better-than-expected 0.4% last month, taking the average price of a house to £165,650 – that’s 0.8% up on a year ago. However, the bulls should not be cracking open the champagne. This week mortgage approvals fell (by 2.6%) for the first time in six months, according to the Bank of England. Howard Archer at IHS Global Insight expects prices to be down 5% by mid-2012 as the market battles rising unemployment, muted earnings growth and low consumer morale.
• A glimmer of light for beleaguered savers this week – according to Moneysupermarket.com, the average interest rate on the top ten easy-access savings accounts has risen over the last 12 months. That’s despite the fact that the Bank of England has held the bank rate at a historic low of 0.5%. The average interest rate (including introductory bonuses) is up 13%, from 2.71% to 3.06%. The best rate on offer is currently from Saffron building society at 3.15% (no bonus element). Watch out if you do pick an account with an initial bonus, says Kevin Mountford of Moneysupermarket.com – rates can plummet once the introductory period runs out. At that point be ready to switch to a better deal.
• Being born under the wrong star sign can affect your wealth, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies. It’s nothing to do with horoscopes, it’s all about your age relative to your classmates at school. Specifically, those born in the autumn tend to do better at school than those born in the summer. August-born children especially are 20% less likely to study for a vocational qualification than those born a month later. So the star signs budding parents should aim for on behalf of their offspring are Scorpio, Libra and Virgo.
• It’s been a bad week for motorists. The AA’s latest Fuel Report claims petrol prices are within 3p per litre of their record high (137.4p) set in May. Diesel costs are also hovering near their all-time peak. You can shave a bit off your tank cost by checking the cheapest petrol station in your area at Petrolprices.com.