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The average price of houses across Australia's capital cities rose 3.4% in the fourth quarter from the previous quarter, the Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday. House prices rose 9.3% compared with the same quarter a year earlier. Economists had expected a 3% rise in the final three months of 2013 versus the previous quarter. In the country's commercial capital, Sydney, house prices rose 4.7% in the quarter. Perth, in resource-rich Western Australia state, recorded a 3.3% rise over the same period. Increases in house prices over the past year is unsettling Australia's central bank as they bring with them the potential to destabilize the economy if the real-estate market runs too hot. The Reserve Bank of Australia last week left All topics about PCB technology http://pcb.hqew.net/special/ its benchmark cash rate at 2.50%, but signaled to markets further interest rate cuts are unlikely. It had cut interest rates eight times between late 2011 and mid 2013 to cushion the economy against a slowdown in mining investment.

The entire country should brace itself for cold, windy conditions and temperatures as low as minus 4C, as the cold snap on its way begins to grip Britain. Parts of Scotland have already been hit by a heavy frost and snow, with around two inches falling last night, and temperatures dropping to minus 5C in the Highlands. Now, forecasters predict the weather system that brought on the early snowfall will move south overnight. It is thought the wintry turn could be the start of a bitter two-week cold snap. Meteogroup forecaster Ben Windsor said clear skies in the South East this evening will make it particularly susceptible to cold weather, with temperatures expected to dip as low as minus 4C. Mr Windsor said the entire country would also experience windy conditions into tonight and tomorrow, but particularly western Scotland and Cornwall. Later in the week, Manchester will be the coldest city where the mercury is tipped to fall to minus 2C on Friday and minus 3C on Saturday. Gritters have been out in the north of England in anticipation of the cold snap, and a pcb board Met Office yellow weather warning was in place across the north west and north Wales for icy roads and hazardous conditions today. That warning for wind and ice will remain in place tomorrow across Scotland, the north west and north east of England, as well as Yorkshire and Humber. Cold conditions will continue in Scotland, but the worst of it will be in the northern areas and mountains, meaning people are unlikely to be affected.

The average cost of renting a property in Britain increased by £7 in October, according to figures from Move With Us, with advertised rents in London rising but still £42 down on last year. However, the monthly increase of 1.47% in average rents means that the capital is still around 209% more expensive than the rest of the country. Robin King, Director of Move with Us, said: “The surprise for October has been the sudden growth of approximately £25 in the average rents in the East Midlands, North East and Wales. All three of these regions performed unimpressively over recent months and these unexpected peaks mean that the markets are expected to finish the year much closer to the advertised rents of October 2012, and in the case of the East Midlands, outperforming this level.” Meanwhile, LSL Property Services reports that tenant arrears are at their lowest since 2008. It estimates average rents across England and Wales rose to £758 per month in October while the number of new tenancies agreed across England and Wales increased by 7.4% compared to October 2012. David Newnes, director of LSL Property Services, said: “At a time when a seasonal slowdown would usually be expected rents are up again. The lettings market appears to be experiencing an extended Indian summer. Normally we can expect the rush of early autumn to fade into a late autumn hibernation. Even as the nights draw in, demand for homes to rent seems unabated, and still well ahead of a year ago. While buying a home is certainly getting easier, it’s the private rental market which is taking the strain for the majority of new households. With below inflation rises it is renting which is still relatively affordable in the face of struggling wage growth and rock bottom savings rates.” The total amount of late rent across England and Wales fell by £49 million since September to £245 million. As a proportion, this represents 7.1% of all rent, down from 8.5% in September. New seller asking prices drop by 2.4% The average asking price of property coming onto the property market fell by 2.4% (£6,181) in November, compared to an average November fall over the last three years of 3%, Miles Shipside, Rightmove director and housing market analyst said: “The excitement about Help to Buy’s early launch failed to buck the seasonal trend of a fall in new sellers’ average asking prices. At this time of year it’s mainly those with a more pressing need to sell that come to market, driving average asking prices down. It takes a lot to throw people off course from marketing after rather than before Christmas, and in spite of the circuit board most positive selling environment since the start of the credit-crunch in 2007, it seems potential sellers will not scratch their seven-year home-moving itch early and will be waiting until at least 2014.”

MPs have spent more than £3.6m of public money renting offices from their own political parties, according to new figures released on Thursday. More than 100 politicians including several cabinet ministers have leased their constituency base from a political organisation, which some have criticised as a hidden subsidy for mainstream parties. The scale of the deals has been disclosed by parliament's expenses watchdog, which has announced a review of the payments to see if they need to be changed. Privately, MPs have defended the payments as a way of ensuring that MPs and political parties have a strong presence in their constituencies. Some say that the alternative cost of renting private office space would increase the cost to the taxpayer. Members of parliament are allowed to rent office space from their parties as long as they can provide an independent quote which will demonstrate that they are being charged a market rate. The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) examined more than 721 office rental agreements used by MPs since 2010 and found that a third, or 244, were with political parties. Tory MPs dominate the list of those who rent office space from parties, with 132 involved in claims. They include Michael Gove, the education secretary, the work and pensions secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, the international development secretary, Justine Greening, and the party's chairman, Grant Shapps. A total of 65 Labour MPs have rented from their party, including Sadiq Khan and Stella Creasy. Twenty-six Lib Dem MPs do the same, including the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, the chief secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, and the energy secretary, Ed Davey. Ipsa's chair, Sir Ian Kennedy, said practice would be reviewed and invited input from members of the public. "Many MPs hire offices for their staff to work in and in which to meet constituents. It is right that we support them to do so. But we also think it is in the public interest to publish where that money goes. "We are reviewing the most appropriate ways to provide accommodation for MPs' offices, and will report back in the spring. We established the current rules after listening carefully to the public. I think it is only right that we ask the public what they think if we decide those rules need amendment," he said. Jonathan Isaby, the political director of the centre-right pressure group the TaxPayers' Alliance, called for the payments to end. "It's one thing if a local political party offers their MP and staff free use of a desk or an office, but quite another pcb board for it to be sending taxpayers an annual invoice for thousands of pounds. Often this is space that would not in any case be available to anyone else on commercial terms," he said.

For those tracking the trends of rich Chinese, few areas are more engrossing than overseas investments. Particularly, observers have been following the flight of yuan into homes in some of the world’s leading cities. A new report by British property agency Knight Frank indicates that this is accelerating: The Chinese are now the world’s biggest buyers of expensive new properties. In November 2011 a joint report by Bank of China and Hurun, a research and publishing house, claimed that up to half of China’s mega rich, those with at least US$16 million in the bank, were considering emigrating. Cue much speculation that the elites were lining up to flee. While that may hold some truth, it shouldn’t mask the underlying motivation of Chinese investors: A desire to seek greater returns on their hard-earned, and sometimes ill-gotten, capital. “Chinese buyers’ global presence is fueled in part by a strong yuan and slowing domestic economy, both of which are encouraging Chinese investors to look further afield in an attempt to diversify their investments,” Knight Frank said in the report released on Tuesday. The conditions triggering this wave of overseas property investment look like they are strengthening. Expect ever greater swathes of big cities to become Chinese enclaves. This year will be the third consecutive year of sub-10% annual GDP growth in China and macy be the joint weakest since 1990. There are mounting expectations that annual government growth targets will be lowered to 7% from 2014 as the new political leadership appears prepared to accept weaker expansion as it reconfigures how the economy works. The performance of the yuan has also encouraged greater overseas activity. According to one property agent in London, a falling pound and rising circuit board renminbi make the UK a smart investment destination. The pace of the yuan’s strengthening against the pound since 2008 has outstripped the increase in prime property prices in the British capital, meaning it is cheaper for Chinese to buy top properties in the city now than it was five years ago.

The Cartesian Co. has launched its EX¹ circuit board printer project on Kickstarter today aiming to raise $30,000 in 30 days. The device, its engineering student creators say, will transform product prototyping in the same way that 3D printers have made things possible that previously seemed inconceivable. EX1 circuit The EX¹ rapid 3D circuit board printer launches on Kickstarter today aiming to raise $30,000 Although very much like a 3D printer, the EX¹ has been designed to only print circuit board. To achieve this is uses two inkjet cartridges and prints onto a substrate (base material) in the same way as a desktop printer. However, it’s not quite like your home printer. “Instead of ink the EX¹ lays down two chemicals that mix together and produce silver nano particles, leaving a silver image on the substrate. The EX¹ can print on both conventional circuit board materials and various types of plastic, glass, wood, ceramic, silicone and even fabric and paper. The ability to print flexible circuits on such a variety of different surfaces means that people can be more creative circuit board and experimental with electronics than ever before,” the company explained in a statement. EX1 2 The EX¹ rapid 3D circuit board printer launches on Kickstarter today aiming to raise $30,000 The printer itself is capable of printing an area around 17.5cm x 8cm and weighs around 6KG when loaded with cartridges. With just five ‘super early bird’ kits available circuit board at $899 and just 20 ‘early bird’ kits priced at $1,199 (both scheduled to arrive in July 2014), you’ll need to move fast if you want to get in on this one at the ground floor. The next tier, ‘Printer Kit’, is priced at $1,499 and is scheduled to arrive from September next year circuit board.

*Prices below $1,300 an ounce, near 3-week lows * Could dip towards $1,250 - technicals * Physical demand fails to pick up despite lower prices (Adds dealer comment, updates prices) By A. Ananthalakshmi SINGAPORE, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Gold eased on Monday to trade near three-week lows as strong U.S. jobs growth reignited fears the Federal Reserve could soon start scaling back its stimulus, denting bullion's appeal as a hedge against inflation.PCB circuit board Indications that the U.S. economy was on a firmer footing than expected could prompt the central bank to start cutting back on its $85 billion monthly bond purchases as early as next month, some investors say. Some say the cutbacks will start only next year. "I think the Fed will still look for stronger evidence on the economic recovery," said Barnabas Gan, an analyst with OCBC Bank. "We are not exceptionally bullish on upcoming data. Markets will continue be on a data-watching mode." Gan expects gold prices to rise to $1,320 an ounce by the end of 2013 and Fed's tapering to start early next year. Spot gold fell 0.2 percent to $1,286.51 an ounce by 0742 GMT after losing 1.5 percent in the previous session, its biggest one-day fall in about a month, triggered by the strong U.S. payrolls data. Gold has already lost nearly a quarter of its value this year amid expectations of a tapering. U.S. employers took on 204,000 new employees last month, almost twice the number forecast by analysts and defying expectations that a partial U.S. government shutdown would hamper job growth. Markets have been hoping that the 16-day government shutdown in early October and its impact on the economy will prevent the Fed from slowly withdrawing its bullion-friendly stimulus. Gold had touched record highs of $1,920 an ounce in 2011, helped partly by stimulus measures from central banks around the world at the time. Prices are expected to test support of $1,278, a break below which will lead to a further drop to $1,251.66, according to a 24-hour technical outlook by a Reuters analyst. PHYSICAL DEMAND STILL WEAK Gold's recent drop to below $1,300 has, however, failed to attract demand in Asia as buyers wait on the sidelines amid hopes for prices to weaken further. Dealers in Hong Kong said demand has not picked up strongly and premiums remained stable at about $1.50 an ounce. Prices have to fall towards $1,200 an ounce for demand to increase, one dealer said. Another dealer said weakness in regional currencies against the U.S. dollar was also curbing demand. Premiums on the Shanghai Gold Exchange increased only slightly to about $5 an ounce from $4 on Friday. Precious metals prices 0742 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume Spot Gold 1286.51 -2.09 -0.16 -23.17 Spot Silver 21.39 -0.07 -0.33 -29.36 Spot Platinum 1438.24 -0.26 -0.02 -6.30 Spot Palladium 754.50 -1.47 -0.19 9.03 COMEX GOLD DEC3 1286.10 1.50 +0.12 -23.25 16656 COMEX SILVER DEC3 21.39 0.07 +0.34 -29.42 4522 Euro/Dollar 1.3372 Dollar/Yen 98.94