House prices up 0.9% in March.

The society’s monthly snapshot of the market showed the average price of a property in the UK increased to £150,946.

The rise follows 16 months of falls, and reverses some of the 1.9% drop recorded in February, but the society said it was a “surprise bounce” and it was too early to talk of house price recovery.

Rival lender the Halifax surprised commentators when it reported a 1.9% increase in prices in January, but this was more than offset by a fall in February. However, this week the Bank of England said the number of loans taken out by homebuyers had risen by 19% in February, with 37,937 loans approved during the month, leading to suggestions that activity in the market may have bottomed out.

Nationwide’s regional breakdown of house prices, also published today, showed a continued fall in all parts of the UK in the first quarter of the year.

Northern Ireland continued to see the biggest drop, with prices down by almost a third (29%) on the same period last year, while in Scotland prices dropped by just 12.6%.

However, the quarterly rate of falls halved in Northern Ireland, from 8% in the last three months of 2008 to 4.1%, and for the first time it did not record the largest quarterly fall in the UK – this was in Wales where prices fell 8.3%.

GDP of EU (27 countries)

data, 2008 year (for some countries predicted values)

The German economy is largest in EU. 19.4 % of EU’s GDP accounts for Germany. 15.2 % of the GDP of EU gives France, 14.1 % - United Kingdom, 12.3 % - Italy, 8.5 % - Spain.

Top 50 European Universities

1. University of CAMBRIDGE (United Kingdom)
2. University of OXFORD (United Kingdom)
3. IMPERIAL College London (United Kingdom)
4. UCL or University College London (United Kingdom)
5. KING’S College London (United Kingdom)
6. University of EDINBURGH (United Kingdom)
7. ETH Zürich or Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (Switzerland)
8. École Normale Supérieure, PARIS (France)
9. University of MANCHESTER (United Kingdom)
10. University of BRISTOL (United Kingdom)
11.  ÉCOLE POLYTECHNIQUE (France)
12. University of COPENHAGEN (Denmark)
13. TRINITY College Dublin (Ireland)
14. EPFL or Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de LAUSANNE (Switzerland)
15. University of AMSTERDAM (Netherlands)
16. HEIDELBERG Universität (Germany)
17. UPPSALA University (Sweden)
18. LEIDEN University (Netherlands)
19. LONDON School of Economics and Political Science (United Kingdom)
20. UTRECHT University (Netherlands)
21. University of GENEVA (Switzerland)
22. University of WARWICK (United Kingdom)
23. Katholieke Universiteit LEUVEN (Belgium)
24. University of GLASGOW (United Kingdom)
25. University of BIRMINGHAM (United Kingdom)
26. University of SHEFFIELD (United Kingdom)
27. DELFT University of Technology (Netherlands)
27. Technische Universität MÜNCHEN (Germany)
29. University of AARHUS (Denmark)
29. University of YORK (United Kingdom)
31. University of ST ANDREWS (United Kingdom)
32. University of NOTTINGHAM (United Kingdom)
33. LUND University (Sweden)
34. University of HELSINKI (Finland)
35. Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (Germany)
36. University of SOUTHAMPTON (United Kingdom)
37. University of LEEDS (United Kingdom)
38. University of ZURICH (Switzerland)
39. University College DUBLIN (Ireland)
40. MAASTRICHT University (Netherlands)
41. University of VIENNA (Austria)
42. UCL or Université catholique de LOUVAIN (Belgium)
43. DURHAM University (United Kingdom)
44. ERASMUS University Rotterdam (Netherlands)
45. EINDHOVEN University of Technology (Netherlands)
46. University of SUSSEX (United Kingdom)
47. University of BASEL (Switzerland)
48. CARDIFF University (United Kingdom)
48. University of LIVERPOOL (United Kingdom)
48. Technical University of DENMARK (Denmark)

The Russian currency has ceased to decline in relation to leading world currencies. Since the beginning of the year the ruble dropped by 17%.

Now € - 46.6 roubles, $ - 36.1 roubles, £ - 53.2 roubles.

U.K. mortgage approvals fell to the lowest in 14 years in November as the contracting economy discouraged buyers and financial institutions declined to pass on the central bank’s interest-rate cuts, the British Bankers’ Association said.

Banks granted 17,773 loans for house purchase, down 61 percent from the same month in 2007, the London-based BBA, which represents the U.K.’s biggest banks, said today in a statement. The number of home loans was 20,767 in October.

The British economy shrank 0.6 percent in the third quarter, more than previously estimated, the statistics office said today. While the Bank of England has reduced the benchmark interest rate to the lowest since 1951, banks that have been stung by the global financial crisis are reluctant to lend against houses as their value declines, and potential buyers are concerned about losing their jobs in the slump.

Perfect day for Russia!
Today men and women russian teams win relays.

Men. 4 x 7.5 km. Relay
1. Russia (Tcherezov, Tchoudov, Maksimov, Kruglov) - 1:24:22.97 (1+9)
2. Austria (Mesotitsch, Pinter, Landertinger, Sumann) - +1:48.1 (2+9)
3. Ukraine (Derkach, Deryzemlya, Berezhnoy, Sednev) - +2:38.6 (3+13)

Women. 4 x 6 km. Relay
1. Russia (Sleptsova, Medvedtseva, Iourieva, Akhatova) - 1:10:49.58 (0+6)
2. Norway (Rogstad, Bonnevie-Svendsen, Flatland, Berger) - +1:54.8 (1+8)
3. France (Brunet, Becaert, Carraz-Collin, Bailly) - +1.56.9 (0+9)

The automobile industry is in great crisis. Sales of cars are falling almost everywhere. Car dealers invent different discounts and gifts to somehow revive demand. Discounts on different cars and different dealers in different times. Buy a car now without rebates are not reasonable, because you can find interesting suggestion from one of the dealers.
In our opinion, the prices of cars will continue to decline. The largest U.S. automakers are in a dire situation. The financial sector is in a difficult position, too. As a result, receive all kinds of loans more difficult now.

Cardiff, Wales
Lloyds TSB Group (carselect.co.uk)
discount to 32 %

Ford Fiesta 1.4
new price - £ 9995 (€ 11759)
old price - £ 11453 (€ 13474)
discount - £ 1458 (13 %)

Peugeot 207 1.4
new price - £ 8995 (€ 10582)
old price - £ 10578 (€ 12445)
discount - £ 1583 (15 %)

Renault Scenic 1.5 dCi 106
new price - £ 12430 (€ 14624)
old price - £ 18188 (€ 21398)
discount - £ 5758 (32 %)

London, UK.
Evans Helshaw
discounts to 31 %

Chevrolet Matiz 1.0 SE
new price - £ 5995 (€ 7053)
old price - £ 8280 (€ 9741)
discount - £ 2285 (28 %)

Ford Focus CC-2 Diesel
new price - £ 15995 (€ 18818)
old price - £ 20995 (€ 24700)
discount - £ 5000 (24 %)

Ford Ranger Thunder 4×4 2.5
new price - £ 13700 (€ 16118)
old price - £ 18176 (€ 21384)
discount - £ 4476 (25 %)

Renault Scenic dCi 85
new price - £ 10995 (€ 12935)
old price - £ 15905 (€ 18712)
discount - £ 4910 (31 %)

Major U.S. car companies may become bankrupt. They did not manage to get help from the U.S. government.

Shares of General Motors tumbled more than 35 percent to hit a 70-year low on Thursday as prospects dimmed that lawmakers would reach a compromise on a proposed $25 billion bailout for U.S. automakers before Congress adjourns this week. In this minute shares of GM up 30 cents to $ 2.08. The fall dropped from 35% to 26%.

Shares of Ford fell 7 cents to $ 1.19 (-6 %).

Over the past 2 quarters of Ford lost $ 8.8 billion, for the year - $ 11.5 billion. Loss GM over the past year amounted to $ 23.1 billion.

UK GDP in the third quarter of 2008 decreased compared to the previous quarter at 0.5%, reported Bloomberg News, referring to preliminary data from the National Statistical Office. This is the first decline in GDP since 1992.

Experts had expected the reduction of the rate at 0.2%.

The increase in GDP of Great Britain on the third quarter of 2007 was 0.3%. The experts predicted increasing that figure to 0.5%.

Economic activity in the service of Great Britain, which accounts for 75% of GDP, declined in the last quarter to 0.4% in the manufacturing sector - by 1%.

The financial crisis spread to all areas of the British economy - from banking to construction, and reducing the rate of GDP shows that the country is on the eve of the first recession since 1991.

This week, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown for the first time acknowledged the likelihood of a recession in the economy. The package of government assistance to banks in the amount of 500 billion pounds ($ 805 billion) as well as lowering the base interest rate the Bank of England to 0.5 percentage point, perhaps it was too late to stem further decline in the economy.

UK house prices fell for a 12th month running in September to stand 6.2 % lower than they were a year ago.
The drop of 1.0 % on the month to 165,300 pounds (decline in August was 0.9 percent).
In August, prices were 5.3 percent lower than a year ago.
On Sept 2, the government raised the threshold above which tax is paid on a home purchase to 175,000 pounds and announced measures to help first-time buyers and those struggling to make mortgage repayments.
Since then, strains in the banking sector have intensified, dealing a further blow to confidence and prompting a number of lenders to raise their mortgage rates.
The survey showed there was a decline both in the number of buyers registering with estate agents and the number of new properties coming onto the market.
Properties in September typically took more than 11 weeks to sell — almost twice as long as last year — and the percentage of the asking price being achieved fell to 90, the lowest level since the survey began.

P.S. If real estate prices in the UK are falling, the real estate prices in Bulgaria are continuing to grow.