GBP: Rudderless Pound takes a beating

The Pound had a shocker on Friday after GDP figures (economic growth) were the worst since 2012. The dip in the UK economy has caused a real stir in the City, with many analysts now believing the May rate hike is all but cancelled. 

The pain could continue today after Home Secretary Amber Rudd has resigned. That’s Teresa May’s 4th Cabinet member to quit in the last 6 months. 

EUR: Volatility returns

The Euro has been a bastion of stability for the last 6 months or so, but in recent weeks volatility has returned. 

Against Sterling, the Euro has been whipsawing up and down. It’s not been without reason. 

Both the UK and the EU have had a raft of poor data in recent weeks. The Bank of England and European Central Bank look to be retreating back to the shadows after threatening to change policy. 

If the Euro is to bring back buyers the data needs to improve, but tomorrow there’s a forecast fall in EU and Italian GDP, which won’t help the situation.  

USD: A potential spanner in the works

Unlike the UK, the US delivered a solid GDP reading on Friday. At 2.3% annualised, growth in the US is almost double that of the UK. 

The main event this week is the US Federal Reserve’s May meeting, which runs over Tuesday and Wednesday. No rate change is expected, but it should offer up clues on future rate rises. 

One potential spanner in the works is that four of President Trump’s top advisors head to China later this week for trade negotiations. Trade with China remains a volatile issue. 

Thanks For Reading, What Next?

To discuss current exchange rates and currency purchasing strategies, please contact your trader today on 01872 487 500.

If you don't yet have an account please request a free quote and we’ll look after you from there.

Have a great day,

Geoff Lambourne - Direct Dial me on 0044 (0)1872 487 470.

Current rates: 

Monday 30th April 2018 at 14:50

£1.00 GBP = 1.1385 EURO

£1.00 GBP = 1.3745 USD

£1.00 GBP = 1.8229 AUD

£1.00 GBP = 1.9523 NZD

£1.00 GBP = 1.7654 CAD

£1.00 GBP = 17.0767 ZAR

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Download our "Buying A Property in France" Guide PDF document now.

For everything you need to know about French property visit www.clefrance.co.uk 

A Place in the Sun Live at Manchester Central this weekend!

As you may know Cle France and A Place in the Sun have been partners for many years, we feature around 3000 of our properties for sale in France on the APITS website and the 'Live' event this weekend is one of the highlights of the international property calendar.

So if you can make it to Manchester Central tomorrow then you will be in for a treat.

Here is some words of wisdom from the A Place in the Sun team... 

Please make sure you have your ticket printed or on your phone ready to be scanned at the box office - there will be one queue for mobile tickets and another for printed tickets so make sure you join the right queue when you arrive.

Jasmine and Ryan kick off the weekend’s activities at The Hub at 10:45am, followed by plenty more seminars and opportunities to hear from Jonnie, Amanda and Laura over the weekend too.

Remember to arrive early to secure a seat as The Hub gets very busy.

And watch the video below as Jasmine takes us through how you can make the most of your time at the show.

A Place in the Sun Live!

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

Maybe you’re buying property in France or maybe you’re just curious about the vocabulary. Whatever it is, it doesn’t hurt to know these French terms.

The first term to come to mind when buying a house is the mortgage. In France, as elsewhere, there are different kinds of mortgages. The standard kind of mortgage is known as un prêt amortissable or un prêt classique. In this mortgage, you finance typically 80% of the home value and pay back the principle plus interest over a set amount of years.An interest-only mortgage is known as un prêt in fine.

There are also different terms of repayment and financing, including un prêt modulable, or a “flexible mortgage” in which your repayment plan changes depending on your financial circumstances.

Un prêt à taux révisable cape is a certain kind of mortgage that offers varied interest rates, typically capped at around 2 or 3%.

In France, the annual percentage rate (APR) of your loan, or the real rate that you have to pay back your principle, is known as le Taux Effectif Global (TEG). 

When you enter into a contact on a property, this is known as the promesse de vente or a compromis de vente. A survey is known as un diagnostic immobilier. Of course, as elsewhere, there are fees that need to be paid when closing on a house that are not related to the mortgage or interest. In France, these fees are known as les frais de notaire, and they can be substantial. These include certain registration taxes, called droits d’enregistrement, and other taxes.

As you can see, in many ways buying a home in France is similar to buying a home in the UK or the United States, for example. But there are also many differences. 

Our "Buying Process" pages go into much more detail and are worth a read but it may be a challenge to read all of them in a month, so any particular questions you have just ask away using our "Ask Alex" service for free or send us an email / Contact Us form.

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.

Some dates for your 2018 diary, the ever popular "A Place in the Sun LIVE" exhibitions happen over four weekends in 2018 and are not only a great day out, they are a fantastic way to find out more about buying property abroad.

You can get answers to many aspects of the buying process from hints and tips about viewings right through to issues such as Mortgages, Currency Exchange, Home Insurance and much more.

And of course, there is always a chance to meet some of the presenters of the TV show!

So here are the four weekends in 2018 for you to make a note of and refer back to.

Of course if you have any questions about buying property in France all you have to do is Ask Alex here.

A Place in the Sun Live takes place four times in 2018:

16th – 18th March at Manchester Central

The increasingly popular north-west exhibition skipped a year in 2017 so get ready for extra demand from this prosperous part of the UK.

11th – 13th May at Olympia London

The longest-running event, first hosted in spring 2005 and delivering a high-quality, adventurous audience ever since.

21st – 23rd September at NEC Birmingham

The best-returning event for many of our exhibitors, an audience drawn from across the UK determined to find property in sunny climes

27th – 28th October at SEC Glasgow

A smaller show now in its third year with more-visitors-per-exhibitor than any other event in 2017.

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

The summer can mean lots of wonderful things, including spending time at the beach, barbecuing with friends and family, and trips to new and exciting locales. This means traveling, which means you might be spending a lot more time in your car.

In French, the word for car is voiture. The word voiture is feminine, so it is la voiture. The verb "to drive" in French is conduire. Conduire can also mean "to conduct or lead" in addition its main definition.

Conduire is also an irregular verb. Here is the conjugation of conduire in the present tense:

je conduis

tu condius

il/elle/on conduit

nous conduisons

vous conduisez

ils/elles conduisent

But there are many others words that you just might need to use when you’re driving a car. In fact, if you happen to be driving a car in a French-speaking country, learning vocabulary related to cars and driving might be important for safety reasons. Here are some words that might be useful to you:

La ceinture de sécurité - Seat belt

Le klaxon - horn

Le volant - the steering wheel

Le tableau de bord - the dashboard

Le clignotant - the turn signal/indicator

Le phare - the headlight

Le rétroviseur - the rearview mirror

Le frein - the brake

Le capot - the hood

Le coffre - the trunk

Le pneu - the tire

Le pare-brise - the windshield

L’essuie glace (m) - the windshield wiper

Le permis de conduire - driver’s license

La plaque d’immatriculation - license plate

Démarrer - To start (the ignition)

There are also certain phrases that might be useful if you fall into any problems while driving in France. Hopefully, you’ll never need to use some of the following phrases!

L’autoroute est payante - The highway charges tolls.

Je suis en panne d’essence - I ran out of gas.

Il faut que je fasse le plein - I need to fill up the tank.

J’ai un pneu crevé - I have a flat tire.

C’est un feu vert/rouge - It’s a green/red light.

Il faut gonfler les pneus - The tires need to be inflated.

Il y a un problème de freins - There’s a problem with the brakes.

Le pare-brise est cassé - The windshield is broken.

Ma voiture est en panne - My car broke down.

If you are traveling this summer, amusez-vous bien et bon voyage!

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.