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Storm in the housing cup
There has been a little storm brewing around the way the various institutions and players in the housing market calculate their indices.
Moneyweb talks about the different methods that have been used with an expert from ABSA. The basic outline is that each player uses their own statistics and techniques to interpret them with some players saying the housing market has contracted and others saying that it is growing.
At the end of the day each index should be taken on its own merits and as a whole you can be sure that it favours those who write it. This is the normal way of things. With Justmoney you can get online mortgages where our partners search all the players for you.
The housing story continues with The Dispatch reporting that the housing market is likely to remain 'subdued' until after 2010. This view was also echoed in The Times. But hey, don't worry so much, it could be worse. The BBC website reports today that the UK housing market is at its lowest ebb in 30 years. This was blamed on the lack of available mortgages to borrowers. Click here to get a South African home loan.
When the fan did some serious chop chop work last month in the US their reserve bank, the Fed stepped in with the biggest bailout in history. Now US taxpayers want to know where their money has gone. The Fed is no longer playing by the rules of transparency that it originally subscribed to. The cover up is so large that Bloomberg has actually filed a federal lawsuit and details request under the US Freedom of Information act. They want to know if the bailout is to kick start the economy or if as they suspect up to half of the bailout will be to pay off executives. There is a related site called BailoutSleuth.com which is looking at this issue in detail.
Business Day ran a related story on how to get paid on Wall Street. The US may cry transparency but when it comes down to it, they are just as not keen as anyone else to let you know how much they are earning. Here at least you can compare banks with Justmoney and pick the one that will pay you the most.
Another major story doing the rounds today is that of ratings agency Fitch. They have downgraded the SA economy based on the global downturn and our current account deficit.
The SA Treasury rejected this call.
This story was covered by most of the major news outlets including Business Report which carried the comment that the ratings agencies are just trying to cover themselves, The Dispatch focussed on the more positive aspects of what Fitch said, iAfrica reported the opinion that the risk of a sharp economic adjustment has gone up, and The Times reported that our credit outlook has dropped. Whatever happens though now is a great time to get a high end savings account and sit the storm out.