Sterling appears to have stabilised against the euro and has at least stopped falling against the US dollar at the start of this week.
It’s a busy and interesting week for data, with employment tomorrow, inflation and earnings on Wednesday and consumer confidence and retail sales on Friday.
With the Bank of England having said they are looking closely at the data to determine whether an interest rate rise will happen on 16 December, any one of these numbers could move the market and affect the price of your home and lifestyle overseas, or your pensions and investments crossing borders.
Speaking of crossing borders, looking at the business news this morning two stories appear to be in opposition. The reports are that Virgin Atlantic are so impressed with the bookings to and from the USA, just a week after they restarted, that they’re hurrying to reopen operations at Gatwick Airport, which they closed at the start of the pandemic and had seemed unlikely to reopen.
The second story was that an American investment company is investing heavily in UK holiday parks because they see the desire for UK vacations continuing as people are reluctant to fly.
Big business may not know if Britons are coming or going, but at Your Overseas Home on Saturday, the overseas property event we sponsor, it was evident from the higher-than-ever bookings that there’s a renewed desire to move abroad.
All the agents reported being busier than ever, and while normally things quieten down over the Christmas period, plenty of us are heading over on viewing trips over the next two months.
If you’re going to make the move, do call your trader on 020 8108 5337 in preparation.
And whatever you do, if you make an offer, lock in the rate with a forward contract straight away, or your property could end up costing thousands more when you come to complete on it.
