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Saturday, December 11, 2010

UK interest rates held at 0.5% by Bank of England

UK interest rates held at 0.5% by Bank of England
The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has kept UK interest rates on hold at 0.5%, and unveiled no new quantitative easing (QE) measures.

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has kept UK interest rates on hold at 0.5%, and unveiled no new quantitative easing (QE) measures.
Both decisions were expected, but it will not be clear whether they were unanimous until the minutes of the meeting are released.
At the MPC's November and October meetings, there was a three-way split among its nine members.
In those meetings, one member voted for a rate rise, another for more QE.
The most recent figures showed that Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation rose to 3.2% in October, well above the target rate of 2%.
However, most MPC members continue to favour keeping rates on hold to aid the UK's economic recovery.
This comes ahead of VAT rising to 20% from 17.5% on 1 January, and the possible negative economic impact of the government's spending cuts.
Since June, MPC member Andrew Sentance has been voting in favour of raising interest rates from 0.5% to 0.75%.
Meanwhile, at the MPC's meetings in October and November, Adam Posen voted in favour of £50bn of extra QE.
QE involves the Bank putting fresh money into the financial system in an attempt to stimulate the economy.
'Minimise danger'
The British Chambers of Commerce said interest rates should remain on hold into 2011 to help the economic recovery, and that the Bank should consider restarting the QE programme.
David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce, said: "Despite positive economic news recently, risks of a setback will inevitably increase in the first half of 2011.
"While we support the painful fiscal measures needed to stabilise Britain's public finances, every effort must be made to minimise the danger of a downturn."
Recent official UK economic data showed that manufacturing output grew by 0.6% in October, the fastest pace since March.
Meanwhile, the overall UK economy grew by 0.8% between July and September

Monday, December 6, 2010

Real Estate's Smart Phone Revolution | Inman News

An Inman News Special Report

By Andrea V. Brambila
Smart phones are getting smarter. They help us find out where we are, and guide us to where we’re going. For so many people, the smart phone serves as a calendar, alarm clock, Internet browser, communications device, radio, jukebox, television, movie theater, map, camera, photo album, office assistant, arcade, lifeline and window to the world.
Mobile technology is empowering real estate professionals to do more while out in the field, and Inman News launched a survey to find out which mobile technologies are making an impact on the industry.
The Inman News smart phone survey revealed which smart phone operating systems, devices, and mobile apps real estate professionals are using the most for business purposes, and this report details the survey’s findings. The survey was conducted from July 28-Aug. 6, 2010, and collected 313 responses.
Among the highlights of the report:
  • Almost one-third of respondents said they are using their smart phones three to four hours per day for work-related purposes, and nearly 17 percent are spending five hours or more on their smart phones each day for work-related purposes.
  • About 42 percent of respondents said they own an iPhone, while 26.1 percent own a BlackBerry and 19.4 percent use smart phones equipped with Google’s Android operating system.
  • Nearly half of respondents (48.6 percent) had between one to five work-related mobile apps installed on their smart phones, while about 10 percent said they had zero work-related apps, 21.5 percent had six to 10 work-related apps installed, and about 19 percent had 11 or more work-related apps installed.