BBC NEWS | Business | Price bar hits first-time buyers: "First-time buyers cannot afford to buy a home in 80% of UK towns, a survey from the Halifax bank has suggested. "

BBC NEWS | Business | Weak jobs data spooks US marketsThe dollar has dropped sharply, after weak US jobless figures raised questions about the pace of recovery in the world's largest economy.

The Bank of England appear to be quite content in letting personal debt and the housing market spiral out of control. If they are trying to deflate the housing boom slowly then they may just be storing up trouble ahead by making the situation worse.

BBC NEWS | Business | Bank leaves rates unchanged at 4%:
"After last month's quarter point increase we should wait and see if consumer debt and house prices stabilise before raising rates any further."

BREAKING NEWS:

The MPC has left rates ON HOLD at 4%

The HPC team has had its own MPC meeting.

Our decision was a 0.25% increase in interest rates to 4.25% and was based on the recent spurt in house prices and the insatiable consumer borrowing appetite of us Brits!

We're sticking our necks on the line here as pretty much every economist in the country is predicting a hold at 4%....watch this space!

BBC NEWS | Business | Rates fail to cool house prices: "The current average prices of a home rose 1.6% during February, to £148,089. "

The Bank's rate juggling act: "...fears of an early-nineties-style crash"

BBC NEWS | Business | Credit card spending reaches high: "...consumer credit rose by £1.93bn in January, the biggest monthly increase since last May and double December's rise."

BBC NEWS | Business | Taylor Woodrow makes £304m profit
HPC's message to Taylor Woodrow - Enjoy it while it lasts!

BBC NEWS | Business | UK inflation 'set to accelerate'
....but will it be enough to force the MPC's hand on Thursday?

The great borrowing boom is about to end.

"We are in a new world. A high rate of borrowing is no longer painless"

Reuters | Latest Financial News / Full News Coverage: All but one of 45 analysts polled by Reuters this week expected the MPC to keep rates on hold....but will the Bank of England surpise everyone?

All quiet on the news front....well, it is a Sunday after all! Don't forget, if you spot an interesting online news article which we've missed then drop us a line.