Mortgage rates down
This is good news for those looking for property and need a mortgage to finance their property purchase.
According to the credit broker Empruntis.com, fixed rates (excluding insurance) mortgage loans have declined in recent weeks to an average 3.85% over 15 years in March, against 4% in February, and 4.10% over 20 years in March against 4.25% in February.
Interest rates for some purchasers, are broken below the 4%. The best profiles as banks benefit from very attractive rates: "The minimum rates are also down sharply, indicating that banks in this period of conquest spring habitat, are ready to great lengths to attract the best customers, "said Mael Bernier, spokesman online broker.
Disparities between borrowers continue by region: there borrows at different depending on whether one lives in Paris, Nantes, Lyon, Lille and Marseille. In the West, borrowers will receive credit rates the lowest, with a fixed rate without insurance averaged 3.75% over 15 years and 4% over 20 years. In contrast, the Ile de France remains the most expensive region, where banks offer fixed rates to 3.95% without insurance over 15 years and 4.20% over 20 years on average. "The good news is that beyond the scalesshown, we get a lot easier for additional discounts from the beginning of 2012, Berniersaid Mael. However, we can only advise not too soon because the future beyond the May 6 remains uncertain and any prediction one way or another today is risky. "
Explosion of brokering real estate loans where the regulation is in place
In all European countries where development has been a regulation of the credit brokerage market share of players has exploded.
Intermediaries in French Bank Operations and Payment Services (IOB) French do not escape this trend.
The provisions of the Financial Security Act of 2003 were completed in 2012 by decrees and orders setting multiple obligations: registration in single ORIAS, respect for rules of good behavior, provision of pre-contractual information, the need a minimum of 150 hours training.
These laws and regulations for consumer protection are controlled by the Prudential Regulatory Authority (ACP).
The second edition of the Deloitte study "bank-customer relationship" only 33% of French trust the banking system. In terms of home loans to consumers were not misled and plébiscitent the relevance of credit brokerage which saves up to 40 basis points compared to a range of banking.
The market for banking intermediation is changing and growing. On the ground economic reality is consistent with the evolution of the distribution of housing loans to households. Thus 40% of first time buyer consulted an intermediary!
Mortgage: a production – 30% in 2012
After a less gloomy prognosis for the - 20% of the French property market, the famous credit rating agency Standard & Poor's considers this time a drop of -20% to -30% of the production of mortgages compared to 2011 (which was a very good year).
The growth in outstanding credit slow "to about 3.5%" in 2012 - half in 2011 - before stabilizing next year. This setback was due to a reduction in credit supply, but especially to a contraction in demand.
The result of this year's black? Higher bank charges, and criteria for granting housing loans increased. Such as reducing the duration of loans, limited to 20 years. But banks will not close the valve provided as loans. The decline in loans granted thus come more upstream of the fall in demand.
With shots plane on property taxes and grants for home, the borrowing capacity of households coupled with high real estate prices would still leave room for a wait of rigor.
S & P also provides that the fixed rate mortgage loans are expected to grow "from 50 to 100 basis points."
Disappointing statistics on the waterfront real estate
Statistics from the U.S. housing market and succeed are not really encouraging ... The U.S. Commerce Department announced Tuesday that a slowdown in housing starts last month.
They settled on a rate of only 0.65 million units, against 0.7 million and 0.69 million consensus a month before. However, building permits have exceeded expectations by cons, at a rate of 0,750,000, against 0,710,000 of consensus among the economists and 0,720,000 in February.
Yesterday, the National Association of Home Builders also released a poor indicator reflecting the situation of the real estate market for April 2012 ... He declined to 25, against 28 and 28 consensus announced a month earlier. Last month, the indicator of future U.S. housing market had hit its highest since June 2007.
The U.S. stock market offers attractive investment opportunities
Conrad Herrmann, senior vice president, managing director of U.S. growth, and co-fund manager Franklin U.S. Opportunities Fund estimates that the U.S. equity market is gradually improving and displays attractive investment opportunities. He said the U.S. economic data continues to improve and more resilient than expected, whether the growth in Gross Domestic Product revised upwards, ISM indices (non-industrial and industrial) showing solid growth , or the fall in unemployment. The rise in consumer confidence and business also explains this situation.
The team of Franklin U.S. Opportunities Fund, based in San Mateo, California, finds investment opportunities in solid companies, generating cash and long-term growth in the technology sector. These securities include not only Apple but also companies that specialize in data storage, network security and cloud computing. The consumer sector also posted strong growth with companies such as Mastercard that has strong growth potential.
According to Conrad Herrmann: "many U.S. companies have emerged from the crisis stronger and better positioned to compete globally. The level of liquidity in the balance sheet is the highest, over 12% of total assets, a level much more than in 2007. In terms of growth, having a strong balance sheet is a big advantage, since it allows easier access to capital markets and make strategic acquisitions. "
From a macroeconomic perspective, the management team believes that the U.S. housing market has bottomed and should begin to improve in the coming years. "The housing market is critical to the overall growth of the economy since the rotation of housing is linked to many parts of the economy, from construction jobs to the sale of durable goods. " Moreover, Conrad Herrmann believes that Americans are starting to spend more, while continuing to improve their financial situation, with higher savings rates and lower debt levels since the crisis.
"The combination of historically low interest rates and improving the employment situation has helped American consumers increase their savings rate. Inflation also remains low. U.S. consumers are in a better financial situation than they were in 2007 and the confidence of business leaders, consumers and investors increases, which will support the market performance of U.S. equities. "
"As volatility continues, the long-term improvements in the economy should enable a sustainable recovery, which will support further growth of the stock market. U.S. Equity valuations are historically low levels and we believe reflect primarily global risk but very little potential for improvement. We will continue to maintain a diversified portfolio by investing in leading companies across all sectors and market capitalization, finding the best opportunities in quality companies and high growth, especially in mid and large caps that are in their early growth phase, while avoiding the "mega caps to lower growth."
The Paris stock exchange is misguided despite a good indicator in the U.S.
The Paris stock market remained misdirected Thursday afternoon, despite good statistics on the forehead of U.S. employment in a market worried about the situation in Spain and who plays the caution on the eve of the long Easter weekend.
At 3:40 p.m. (1:40 p.m. GMT), the CAC 40 lost 0.40% to 3300.28 points.
The new jobless claims in the United States continued to decline, reaching their lowest level in four years, reassuring news on the eve of the publication of the official report on U.S. employment for March.
The labor market overseas has improved significantly since the fall when the unemployment rate fell to 8.3% in February against 9.1% in August. But these good indicators did not allow to overshadow concerns about Spain, which saw its borrowing rates to tighten significantly in the bond market. The yield on the Spanish 10 years and was part of almost 6%.
"It is again in a vicious circle. More interest rate increases to Madrid, unless the refinancing of its debt by Spain appears credible," said Renaud Murail, manager of equities at Barclays Exchange.
"While Germany will refuse that the European Central Bank buys directly from the primary market debt, difficulties remain in some countries," he added.
In the wake of the renewed tensions, bank stocks retreated sharply, while some institutions are very vulnerable to Spanish debt.
And Paris has certainly raised nearly $ 8.5 billion in medium and long term, but borrowing rates slightly less favorable.
The trade volume remained modest at 1.975 billion euros as investors have already completed most of their position on the eve of Easter weekend.
The Paris market, as most European financial centers, will remain closed for Good Friday.
BNP Paribas itself from the bottom of the score (-2.83 to 32.26% in euros), followed closely by Credit Agricole (-2.73% to 4.12 euros) and Societe Generale (-2.09% to 19.93 euros).
EDF lost 2.56% to 16.77 euros as the takeover of Edison by the electrician has suffered another setback. Constable Fellow Italian Consob, rejected the price at which the French wanted to buy out minority shareholders of Italian society.
In contrast to the trend, LVMH progressed significantly from 2.32% to 129.85 euros in after its CEO Bernard Arnault is confident for 2012 after a strong first quarter.
CAC 40 off, Soitec yielded 3.94% to 3.76 euros allocated since the previous day (-6.88%) by the bankruptcy of the German Q-Cells.
Stock Exchange: Wall Street loses 1% at the opening
U.S. stock markets plunged over 1% as investors worried about employment statistics. In Toronto, the decline is more moderate.
He has created 00 120 jobs in March in the U.S., according to data released Friday. This is the lowest job creation for five months. It is also less than the forecast of 205,000 jobs. U.S. markets were unable to react to the news the same day because of Good Friday holiday.
Upon opening, the U.S. stock exchange news channel CNBC reported that the three major U.S. indices (Dow Jones, S & P 500 and Nasdaq) touch a low of one month.
On Monday, China unveiled a level of inflation above expectations. Inflation rose 3.6% in March, against an expectation of 3.3%. The price appreciation occurs when the economy slows. High inflation could reduce the flexibility of authorities to support growth.
The opening of a negotiation with Iran over its nuclear program has eased concerns about oil supplies. Oil prices slip nearly U.S. $ 2.
Three minutes after the opening, AOL takes 36% to U.S. $ 25.14. The company sells about 800 patents to Microsoft for more than U.S. $ 1 billion.
Around 9:40, here's the current situation in Toronto and New York:
- The S & P / TSX loses 50 points, or 0.41%, to 12,053 points;
- The S & P 500 removes 16 points, or 1.15%, to 1382 points;
- The Dow Jones down 127 points, or 0.97%, to 12,993 points;
- The Nasdaq removes 39 points, or 1.28%, to 3041 points;
- Oil prices depreciating U.S. $ 1.94, or 1.88%, to $ 101.37 U.S.;
- The ounce of gold gained U.S. $ 16.20, or 0.99%, to a $ 646.30 U.S.;
- The Canadian dollar was down 0.62 U.S. cents, or 0.64%, to 100.04 cents U.S..
Stock Market suspended from employment before the results of companies
Wall Street awaits the release of unemployment figures Friday to give a direction depending on the strength of the U.S. economic recovery which they will testify before the start of a new season of quarterly results next week.
Over the last four sessions, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, an index of 30 blue chip stocks on Wall Street, has sold 1.15%, ending Friday at 13,060.14 points.
The Nasdaq, dominated by technology, has meanwhile declined from 0.36% to 3080.50 points. Since the beginning of the year, he recorded an increase of 18.7%.
The broader index Standard & Poor's 500 fell 0.74%, ending at 1,398.08 points.
On the edge of a long Easter weekend, Wall Street was entirely focused on the publication of the monthly report from the U.S. government on employment and unemployment in the United States, "a publication complicated by the fact that stock markets will be closed "because of Friday, noted Chris Low of FTN Financial.
These statistics "will most likely set the tone for the coming days," added Abdullah Karatash, Natixis, "with the start of earnings season" of companies for the first quarter 2012.
This earnings season will be inaugurated on Tuesday by Alcoa, the American aluminum giant, but if important they testify to the strength of economic activity in the U.S., the performance of U.S. companies will not be at the center of attention in the coming days.
"The biggest news for next week is the dissemination of the report Friday," insisted Mr. Low, "because there is a debate within the leadership of the Fed (U.S. central bank) about the job" , he added.
"If the figures are encouraging (...), then this will give more optimistic due to campaigning for the highest interest rate. However, if they disappoint, the market will start to anticipate a new wave of relaxation money ", in order to stimulate recovery, summarized the strategist.
Dissemination of minutes of the last Fed meeting, March 13, Tuesday had precipitated a drop in all markets, shaken by the low support expressed for new stimulus measures, despite the generally optimistic tone of these discussions about the U.S. economy.
The decline that followed, contrasting with the end of a historical first quarter the previous week, during which Wall Street posted its largest gain in 14 years, was seen as a sign of a turnaround .
"We wonder whether the correction that we are witnessing the arrival signals a downtrend in the market bottom," and has questioned Sat Stovall, S & P Capital IQ.
Furthermore, after Greece, a failed bond issue aroused Spanish fears of contagion from the debt crisis in the eurozone, if the system firewall set up by EU leaders was not enough not to save the finances of Madrid.
In this uncertain environment, investors will scrutinize all the more attention the various indicators next week.
In addition to the unemployment figures Friday, and corporate earnings, investors will follow including retail sales figures Tuesday and the presentation of the Fed's Beige Book, report of conditions on the U.S. economy on Wednesday.
Also be on the agenda of new weekly jobless claims and the trade balance of U.S. Thursday.