The society, which is currently in the process ofacquiring Chelsea Buiding Society said its revealed that its gross mortgage lending fell sharply in 2009 to �900m, down from from �2.5bn in 2008. This was in line with much of the rest of the market, which has been contracting dramatically since the credit crisis set in. The society made a pre-tax loss of �12.5m for the year to December 31, down from a profit of �8.3m in 2008, as the lender increased provisions on mortgage losses from �25m in 2008 to �59m last year. Iain Cornish, chief executive, said the society’s slide in mortgage lending levels last year reflected a more cautious approach to lending as well as low demand. “From the middle of last year we have been pretty positive about the housing and mortgage market. There is more confidence in the market and our lending this year…

According to the latest data from Nationwide Building Society this was the first fall in prices for 10 months, and leaves the annual rate of UK house price growth at 9.2%. Nationwide attributes the fall in part to the snowy weather putting off househunters, and a spike in property purchase activity in December caused by people rushing to beat the Stamp Duty holiday deadline at the end of the year. However it warned that last year’s surprisingly strong recovery in the housing market was unlikely to be sustained throughout the course of 2010 in any case. “In light of low growth in household incomes and elevated levels of unemployment, house prices were beginning to move ahead of the recovery in general economic conditions,” says Martin Gahbauer, Nationwide’s chief economist. “Even without the impact of stamp duty changes and the snowy weather, it would have been surprising to see house prices maintain…

This is for the benefit of married couples looking forward to buy life insurance, as it proves you the benefits of buying two single life policies rather than a single joint life policy. Most people are not aware of that in a few cases it can be more useful for you to buy two single life policy in place of a single joint life policy. To know why single policy is better than the joint one you first have to know what the differences are and what they in fact imply to you in your economic condition. Most of couples faced with the need for life insurance go for a joint life cover. This kind of policy is simple it pays out the sum assured when one of you die and subsequently policy expires. The other way round, is to go for two single life insurance policies one for each…

The Myth About the Penny In simplest of terms, penny stocks are usually determined by three basic factors. They are, the price per share, the market that the stock trades upon and the market capitalization of the company from which the stock derives. If you are considering trading penny stocks, you should know that even these factors are up for debate, depending on which broker you use. Some brokerage firms will treat all stock from companies under a certain market cap as penny stock. However if� penny stocks were determined strictly by price, some of the largest companies in the world almost became “penny shares” during the first part of 2009. The Securities Exchange Commission is supposed to consider all stocks with a price per share of less than five dollars a penny stock. But in the realm of financial services there are many shades of gray, or…