The current Bank of England base interest rate—the rate that largely determines mortgage interest rates—is 2.25 percent. This week, the average interest rates for two and five-year fixed rate mortgages topped six percent for the first time in over a … Continue reading →
Mexico’s nationwide house price index rose by 0.41 percent in Q1–2022 from a year earlier, according to Global Property Guide. For comparison, the year-over-year growth in Q1–2021 was 2.5 percent. Between 2016 and 2021, real house prices in Mexico increased … Continue reading →
Shanghai-based real estate developer Shimao Group Holdings Ltd. has missed the interest and principal payment of a $1.02 billion offshore bond due on Sunday, according to Reuters. This was the first missed public offshore payment for Shimao, which has an … Continue reading →
British multinational hospitality company IHG announced today that it is “in the process of ceasing all operations in Russia consistent with evolving UK, US and EU sanction regimes and the ongoing and increasing challenges of operating there.” The company had … Continue reading →
Average house prices in the UK increased by 12.4 percent to £281,000 ($344,097) over the year ending April 2022, according to the UK Office for National Statistics. Among the countries that comprise the UK, England has the highest average house … Continue reading →
According to UNCTAD World Investment Report 2022 (published on June 9, 2022), all major FDI (foreign direct investment) recipients in South America, including Brazil, Chile and Colombia, saw their FDI flows increase in 2021, driven by the resumption of flows … Continue reading →
Office vacancy rates in London have risen from 5.3 percent in March 2020 to nine percent in June 2021, with the vacant spaces mostly in older properties, according to Financial Times (citing Savills). The number of people coming to work … Continue reading →
China became the largest recipient of foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2020, attracting an estimated $163 billion in inflows, according to a report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The United States followed with $134 billion … Continue reading →
In recent years, company voluntary arrangements (CVAs) have been used to restructure the leases of struggling retailers and restaurants. Under United Kingdom insolvency law, a CVA is a legally binding agreement between a company that is either insolvent or has … Continue reading →
Between 2000 and 2017, the obligations of foreign debtors to the government of China increased from less than $500 billion (one percent of global GDP) to more than $5 trillion (six percent of global GDP), according to a Kiel Institute … Continue reading →