Nationals round-up: House prices could be a worry over the next few years, while income protection is back on the agenda...
UK banks will not increase mortgage lending this year as extra regulatory pressures and a lack of funds continue to restrict the availability of finance to borrowers, Hometrack says.
The Nationwide has called for further quantitative easing after property prices slumped 0.7% this month, continuing the price falls that started in the summer.
The Mortgage Market Review (MMR) will set house prices tumbling, says the director general of the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).
Future sales expectations rose in August, despite the balance of newly agreed sales falling to its lowest level in two years, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
Unforeseen costs cause 21% of UK homebuyers to go over their initial budget by an average of £23,000, with subsequent spending on the property pushing that figure to over £30,000.
House prices fell for the second consecutive month in August, figures from Nationwide suggest, but the building society says the correction is "not unhealthy".
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned long-term fiscal reforms will be required among advanced economies as it projected the UK's gross debt to GDP would rise to 90.6% in 2015.
Average UK property prices were 6.1% higher this July than last and currently stand at £200,913.
This is a fair enough question, one would think, when research from Moneyfacts shows lenders are enjoying margins at all-time highs on their mortgage rates.