Sterling has reached the end of the month 1% up on where it started September against the euro and 2% up on the US dollar. Against a basket of currencies the pound is at its strongest since the afternoon of 23 June 2016, the day of the Brexit referendum.
To lock this in for the year ahead, call your account manager on 020 8108 5163.
Speaking of that date, it was good to hear at multiple seminars at the Your Overseas Home Virtual Event, which our account managers were speaking at on Saturday, how easy it is to retire or buy a holiday home in our favourite European destinations. There are many simple visa and other options for those moving there, and virtually no restriction at all on buying property.
The risk remains, however, as American buyers are discovering, that a strong currency can weaken on an instant. Those Americans who came over last year are now getting 5% fewer euros for their dollars than a year ago, leaving those caught mid-property purchase needing to find tens of thousands more.
The reason for exchange rate movements remains interest rate decisions. Anyone making a GBP/EUR transaction needs to be keenly aware of the risks of the UK following Europe and the US into big cuts, and the evidence for that will come from economic data.
This morning the pound has already wobbled a little by the news that the UK economy grew less than had been first announced – 0.7% in the past quarter rather than 0.9% as first thought. It was rescued by a sharp rise in house prices. The Nationwide said that UK property prices rose by 3.2% in the past year. This time the growth was evenly spaced around the country, with only the East Anglia area seeing falls.
There is a lot more data coming through today, with German and Italian inflation, plus an important speech by US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell. Tomorrow we will hear eurozone-wide inflation and an employment report from the USA.
GBP/EUR past year
GBP/USD past year
