Dell said late Thursday that it sold more than $3 million in PCs and accessories through Twitter promotions and other activity on the microblogging service.

“We’ve surpassed $2 million in revenue in terms of Dell Outlet sales, but we’re also seeing that it’s driving interest in new product as well,” wrote Stefanie Nelson, one of Dell’s Twitter administrators.

Customers arrive at Dell’s online outlet store through the @DellOutlet Twitter account, but many wind up buying new Dell PCs, pushing overall sales over $3 million.

The Dell outlet, which sells returned or refurbished computers at a discount, began experimenting with Twitter in 2007 after a few employees learned about it at South by Southwest. DellOutlet now has more than 620,000 followers, and representatives use it to advertise Twitter-only deals (”20% off any Dell Outlet Printer. Enter at checkout: 06G$WMFPKXPCT8 – exp 6/2 or after 1st 500 redemptions”) and answer customer questions (”Hi there! Yes, we are carbon-neutral. See what we are doing/have done at Dell.com/environment”).

“If all of a sudden I have 15 new flatscreens that have popped into Dell Outlet because they’ve been returned…I can now move them very quickly on Twitter,” said Richard Binhammer, a Dell spokesman. “It becomes a very effective way to move the inventory very quickly because of the immediacy of Twitter.”

By December, Dell had generated $1 million in outlet revenue as a result of its tweets and took six months to make $1 million more.

article from: blogs.wsj.com

Housing Minister John Healey has today announced £83 million to get building over 5,700 new and affordable homes stalled by the recession back on track.

Low cost homes for sale on sites across every region of the country are getting support today so more families can take their first step onto the housing ladder through the Government's HomeBuy scheme - which has already helped over 130,000 families buy their first home.

Crucially this cash will also get struggling housebuilders building homes again safeguarding over 1,700 jobs.

Because Mr Healey has made it a requirement that those receiving funding must provide apprenticeships and opportunities for local workers, today's cash will give 99 additional young people the chance to learn the building trade.

The Minister has already given 141 projects mothballed by the recession cash to get back on track and workers are back on site on many of these. Today's extra funding means nearly 5,700 homes are now going ahead and 1,700 jobs in the construction have been safeguarded - at a time when the industry needs all the help it can get.

Developers receiving cash today have committed to get workers back on site by this time next year, with almost a quarter saying they'll have workers back on site by the end of the month.

This support is not a handout though and comes on tough terms, with much of the money expected to be repaid within five years. Developers have also had to pass stringent value for money assessments carried out by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) to prove that each taxpayer pound is well spent.

As part of the Government's drive to make new homes cleaner and greener, priority has been given to those schemes which are set to meet high environmental standards, with the overwhelming majority of successful schemes meeting at least Level 3 of the Code for Sustainable Homes.

The numbers of successful projects receiving funding in each region are below:

Schemes receiving funding include:

• City Point, Derby - Morris Homes will receive £768,000 Kickstart funding to build 69 homes of which 33 will be affordable homes available through HomeBuy Direct on a former City College site near to Pride Park Football Ground.
• Crediton Road, West Devon - Persimmon will receive £1,772,250 funding to deliver 72 homes of which 61 are three- or four-bed family-sized homes.
• Hardwick Green, Stockton-on-Tees - Barratt will receive £1,116,900 Kickstart funding for 50 affordable homes that will all be available through the HomeBuy Direct scheme.

John Healey said:

"We're putting the weight of Government investment into building much-needed affordable homes, keeping people in work and giving young people a chance of apprenticeships.

"That's why today I'm allocating £83 million to get 87 stalled developments across the country up and running again, creating 1,700 jobs and giving more than 2,200 first-time buyers the chance to take an affordable step onto the property ladder.

"In this recession, the Government has not stepped back and left the homes and jobs we need to the market. We're using public funding to keep Britain building through the downturn."

Following today's announcement, Mr Healey has now allocated more than £3.6 billion for housebuilding since June, funding nearly 68,000 new homes, starting the largest council housebuilding programme for two decades and freeing up public land for housing.

Chief executive of the HCA, Sir Bob Kerslake said:

"With over 6,000 new and affordable homes now on their way to being completed through Round 1 of the Kickstart programme, this second round of funding will now help many more schemes to get back on track. The due diligence process for selecting these successful projects has been rigorous, assessing factors such as value for money, design, local fit and sustainability to help ensure the homes meet the needs of the people who will live in them."

Article from: www.communities.gov.uk  08/03/10

The average cost of a home in the most expensive street in England has soared by £300,000 during the past year, research showed.

Chester Square in Belgravia, London, held on to its title as the most expensive place to live in 2010, with the average property there costing £6.6 million, according to housing information website Mouseprice.

Despite the housing market downturn, the square, which contains stucco-fronted period properties and whose residents have included former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich, has continued to command high sales prices.

The group said the majority of homes changing hands there sold for around £7 million, while in 2008 there were four ''mega-sales'' with properties selling for between £12.2 million and £19.7 million.

Ingram Avenue in Hampstead, London, was the street with the second most expensive properties, with the large detached homes there averaging £6.09 million, followed by Courtney Avenue in Highgate at £5.9 million.

Unsurprisingly, all of the top 20 most expensive streets on which to buy a home are in London, 12 of which are in Kensington and Chelsea and five of which are in Barnet.

The only street to make it into the top 20 for the first time this year was Queens Grove in St John's Wood, with is ranked 15th overall, with average house prices of £4.8 million.

Outside of London, the South East has the most expensive streets on which to buy a home, with Portnall Rise in Virginia Water in Surrey, taking the top spot with homes averaging £3.8 million.

The most expensive street in the north is Broadway in Hale, near Altrincham, where the average home costs just over £2 million.

The average cost of a property in the top 10 most expensive streets is more than £1 million in seven of the 10 regions of England and Wales.

In the East Midlands the average property on the most expensive streets costs £856,050, while in the North East it is £820,200 and in Wales it is £6676,320.

Mouseprice said most regions saw an increase in the average value of a property on their 10 most expensive streets during the past year.

But the South West, West Midlands, Yorkshire & the Humber and Wales all saw slight price falls.

London saw the biggest price rise, with the average cost of home on its 10 most expensive streets jumping from £4.9 million in 2009 to £5.5 million now.

Article from: www.telegraph.co.uk 09/03/10

The housing market is on hold as home buyers and sellers adopt a “wait and see” approach in the run up to the general election, estate agents have warned.

They said people are holding off agreeing deals on property in anticipation of the general election, amid concerns about budget cuts and potential tax rises.

A total of 17 per cent more estate agents reported a rise than a fall in house prices last month, down from 31 per cent in January, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Jeremy Leaf, a spokesman for RICS, said: “Most market indicators are still positive and consistent with further house price increases. However, the magnitude of the gains going forward is likely to continue to ease.”

Alex McNeil, a RICS member based in Halifax, said: “The market remains extremely challenging with low volumes of sales currently being agreed. The forecast budget cuts and potential for tax rises are causing many prospective purchasers to wait and see. The sooner an election the better.”

And John Haigh, a RICS based in North Yorkshire, said: “The looming general election has led to a lull in the market with vendors hesitant to put properties on the market.”

Article from: www.telegraph.co.uk 09/03/10

The HomeBuilders Federation is calling on MPs to  “wake up” to the mounting housing crisis in England and Wales, stressing that the shortage of homes is fast approaching one million and yet fewer homes are now being built than at any time since 1945.
In its election manifesto, to be launched tomorrow (March 10), HBF will outline the steps urgently needed to increase housing supply. These include:

-    Making more land available for development
-    Addressing the chronic lack of mortgage availability
-    Reducing the crippling costs of central/local government regulation that prevent many sites being built
-    Maintaining public funding to support housing delivery and the jobs it creates

HBF said that housing issues were now "affecting every UK constituency" with significant social and economic impacts such as young couples having to delay starting a family as they could not buy a home.
“We have a desperate and growing crisis that just has to be addressed,” HBF’s chief executive Stewart Baseley explained. “But despite the shortfall of homes fast approaching a million, we are building less than at any time since the Second World War. The social and economic implications dictate that the new parliament’s MPs must address the barriers to delivery as a matter of urgency.”
HBF will launch the manifesto at a pre-election “Question Time”, featuring housing minister John Healey and shadow housing minister Grant Shapps.

Article from: www.house-builder.co.uk 09/03/10

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said the number of people selling their home rose more quickly than the number of potential new buyers entering the market for the second consecutive month.

It comes after key market surveys by Nationwide and Halifax showed house prices fell in February for the first time since the onset of last summer.

The RICS findings suggest the previous imbalance between supply and demand, seen as a key factor supporting the recent house price recovery, is being redressed.

The group said both new instructions to sell and new buyer inquiries rebounded during February after being depressed in January due to the bad weather and the end of the Government's stamp duty holiday.

Overall, 7% more chartered surveyors reported a rise rather than a fall in new buyer inquiries, while 15% more saw an increase in new instructions to sell property.

A balance of 17% of surveyors also said they had seen house price increases during the month, although this was down from 31% more in January.

However, it remains to be seen whether the price drops are the result of one-off factors during January or the start of a new trend

RICS spokesman Jeremy Leaf said: "Most market indicators are still positive and consistent with further house price increases.

"However, the magnitude of the gains going forward is likely to continue to ease reflecting the fact that new supply coming onto the market is starting to outstrip fresh demand."

The RICS data was unveiled as Rightmove released research which showed only one in four people planning to buy a home during the coming year are first-time buyers.

The proportion of people who plan to buy a property who are first-time buyers dropped for the second consecutive quarter to 25.8%, the property website said.

Rightmove warned the figure was well down on the 40% of housing transactions that would usually be carried out by people buying their first home in a healthy market.

Miles Shipside, commercial director of Rightmove, said: "First-time buyers play a crucial role in keeping the market moving by helping to complete chains, and their continued absence delays any prospect of a meaningful market recovery."

Article from: Sky News.co.uk 09/03/10

The availability of mortgages requiring a deposit of just ten to 15 per cent - traditionally seen as ideal by first-time buyers - has risen by 90 per cent in the last year, according to Moneyfacts.

New figures by the financial information service show there were 1,798 home loans on the market at the start of March demanding a deposit of between zero and 40 per cent - six per cent up on February and 68 per cent higher than this time last year.

Commenting on the increased availability, Ben Wilkie, editor of Whatmortgage, says: "It really should help first-time buyers because even to get a ten per cent deposit is hard enough and to get any higher than that is outrageous, for many people."

However, the proportion of mortgages which still require first-time buyers to stump up at least 25 per cent of the home's value remains high - and could tempt some people to consider shared mortgages and shared equity mortgages.

Further good news for first-time buyers was provided by Moneyfacts this week when the organisation announced that several lenders - such as Lloyds, RBS and Northern Rock - have cut interest rates on mortgages.

How to buy a house from finding your first property, first time buyer mortgages, mortgage advice, shared equity, shared ownership, joint ownership, part buy part rent and HomeBuy. All a first time buyer could need as well as first time buyer news at FirstRungNow.com.

"Substantial deposit" still required by first-time buyers Weather and end of stamp duty holiday 'were good news for first-time buyers' Santander mortgage 'ideal for first-time buyers'

Article from: www.firstrungnow.com 09/03/10

Heydar Aliyev, the son of Ilham Aliyev, the oil-rich country’s president, allegedly spent almost £30 million (US$44 million) on nine waterfront mansions in the southern Gulf emirate earlier this year, reports said.

The boy, who was 11 at the time, made the purchase in the Palm Jumeirah development over two weeks, the Washington Post reported on Friday.

Heydar’s name and his date of birth appeared on Dubai Land Department records, which were obtained by the paper.

The details listed on the property records were the same as those of the son of the former Soviet Republic’s president, whose annual salary is about £150,000 ($228,000).

The purchases are about the equivalent to 10,000 years' worth of salary for the average citizen of the country.

Industry sources with knowledge of the transactions told the paper the purchases were made by a buyer representing Azerbaijan's ruling family, with the properties paid for “upfront”.

It remains unclear whether the boy was given the property as a gift or how he could have bought into the development, after officials in Baku, the country’s capital, refused to comment on the claims.

"I have no comment on anything. I am stopping this talk. Goodbye," Azer Gasimov, the president's spokesman, told the paper when contacted for comment.

He did not respond to repeated further requests for comment.

The luxury real estate scheme is popular with multimillionaires, British footballers and celebrities and is also home to the world's biggest artificial island.

The island off the coast of Dubai has become a symbol of the emirate's reputation for luxury and extravagance.

Markets across the world were rattled in November after Dubai World, the government investment company behind its most ambitious projects including Palm Jumeirah, said it was seeking to delay repayment on a tranche of its debt.

The Post said the amount of Dubai property allegedly amassed by the family’s children, or people with similar names to them, now reaches almost £50 million (US$75 million) after similar purchases by his daughters.

The property records also listed the names of Leyla and Arzu Aliyeva, whose names, were the same and their ages “roughly” similar.

The paper said the exact dates of birth could not be established, but various reports said Leyla's birthday was the same as the Azerbaijani woman who was listed in the documents.

The president's older daughter, Leyla, is married to Emin Agalarov, a wealthy Russian businessman while relatives of the first lady, Mehriban, have lucrative business interests in Azerbaijan.

Agalarov would not comment to the paper when asked whether he had helped buy Dubai properties for his wife or Aliyev's other children.

He said he had "joined businesses and properties" with his wife.

"We wish not to comment on that,” he said in an email to the paper.

Azerbaijan, which became an independent nation with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, has vast sources of oil.

It has been ruled almost continuously by the same family with the current president taking over from Heydar Aliyev, his father, who was president from 1993 until his death in 2003.

The Aliyev government and its supporters have recently sponsored trips to Baku by prominent foreigners and hiring lobbyists to trumpet the country's achievements.

Last year The Daily Telegraph disclosed that Tony Blair’s new paymaster was an obscure oligarch with business links to Syria, Iran and Afghanistan.

Nizami Piriyev, an Azerbaijan-based millionaire, paid Mr Blair to fly to Baku in December to open his new “methanol plant” funded by a British government-backed bank.

Mr Blair typically charges tens of thousands of pounds simply to give a speech and is therefore thought to have received more than £100,000 for his trip to Azerbaijan.

A spokesman said he was not planning an ongoing relationship with Mr Piriyev and did not have any dealings with the family while in office.

The Post also reported that David Plouffe, President Obama's former election campaign manager, visited Baku last year to deliver a paid-for speech a few months before Mr Blair.

Article from: www.telegraph.co.uk 08/03/10

The prices of properties sold at auction versus the rest of the market narrowed last month, according to a study to be published on Monday. 

The improvement will help steady the nerves of property owners and investors following signs of a reversal in fortunes for some of the main house price indices. 

Nationwide recently reported the first fall in house prices in 10 months while earlier this week Halifax said values had fallen 1.5% in February - the first monthly decline in seven months.

The reading on the Fathom-Zoopla Auction Price Index (API) in February was 79, suggesting homes under the hammer were sold at a 21% discount.

In January the gap had widened sharply to 28%, sparking fears of a knock-on impact for the wider market.

The auction price index appears, in recent years, to give some forward indication of market direction.

Even though it improved in February, Fathom says the prospects for the market remain bleak.

Andrew Brigden, senior economist at Fathom Financial Consulting, warned previously that January's number was based on a relatively small sample and might have been affected by some one-off factors, such as the unusually cold weather.

He added that given this month's improvement, the Nationwide and Halifax surveys may improve in March.

But his wider view of the market remains negative: 'At -21%, the auction discount in February is nevertheless large by historic standards and the trend in the API remains downward.

'There has been a clear weakening of prices achieved at auction since late 2009, which adds to survey evidence that the balance of power between buyers and sellers in the conventional market has begun to shift.

'The index continues to point towards a further falls in prices achieved on the conventional market through 2010.' 

Article from: www.dailymail.co.uk 08/03/10

The true financial picture at troubled estate agency Foxtons has emerged after the publication of long overdue financial accounts showing losses of £220m.

Foxtons was sold by founder Jon Hunt for £390m in 2007 to private equity outfit BC Partners.

But in January this year Foxtons was taken over by its lenders after it struggled with its debt amid the market downturn.

Accounts for Foxtons Holdings for the year to December 31, 2008 show the company made a £220m loss on a turnover of £84m, due in part to a £163m write-down in goodwill.

Interest on bank and other loans, some at 15%, came to a sizeable £39m, with Foxtons owing £376m by the end of the year.

Article from: www.thisismoney.co.uk 08/03/10

The company, which will be called Metric Property Investments, plans to raise £150m in an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange.

It will be headed by its chief executive Andrew Jones, the former head of retail and an executive director at British Land, and will be internally managed.

Beresford was previously European director at British Land and Stirling was asset management director at British Land.The three property directors have worked together for 15 years where they were responsible for running two of the largest UK retail property portfolios by value at British Land which has a portfolio valued at around £4.8bn and, prior to that, at Pillar Property, where they ran the UK’s largest retail warehouse portfolio. Metric's finance director will be Sue Ford who was formerly finance director of Ingenious Media and the Channel 4 Group.

Metric’s Board includes an independent team of non-executive directors chaired by Andrew Huntley, a non-executive director of Liberty International. It also comprises Alec Pelmore, who is a member of the supervisory board of Unibail-Rodamco, as senior independent director, Andrew Varley, an executive director of NEXT Group; and Philip Watson, chief investment officer of Mirabaud Investment Management.

Jones, Beresford and Stirling and members of their families and family trusts have committed to an initial investment of £6m. The ordinary shares acquired by the three executive directors are subject to a three year lock-up arrangement and the three directors will be subject to a continuing requirement to hold 300% of their basic salary in equity, “further aligning management’s interests with those of the company’s shareholders”. Ordinary shares bought by the non-executive directors will be subject to a two year lock-up arrangement.

Metric’s strategy will be to "seize the significant opportunities for value creation resulting from re-pricing and refinancing pressures in the retail property market to create a portfolio of retail assets located across the UK".

Andrew Jones, chief executive of Metric, said: “We believe that the extensive re-pricing of the real estate market and the adoption of our occupier-led approach will present a significant opportunity for Metric to create value for shareholders through our active approach to asset management and through the leveraging of our strong retailer, property investor and banking relationships.”

“We are currently in negotiations with a number of vendors regarding potential investment opportunities and we will continue to source similar opportunities within our preferred sub-sectors of the UK retail property market. Our focus is to generate attractive returns, backed by sustainable income and strong capital appreciation.”

Oriel Securities and J.P. Morgan Cazenove have been appointed as joint sponsors, financial advisers and bookrunners. Conditional dealings on the Stock Exchange will begin on 19 March with unconditional dealings on 24 March.

Article from: www.propertyweek.com 08/03/10

The company reported a pre-tax profit of £4.8m last year after losing £78.7m in 2008, a year which saw the UK housing boom collapse and housebuilders write down the value of their land.

Bovis follows Taylor Wimpey in returning to the black and said that it is now "well placed to use its balance sheet strength to acquire new land for homes to support future growth."

The rally that house prices enjoyed since reaching their low in April stalled last month and, with banks being far tougher on mortgage lending, both Nationwide and Halifax have said they expect prices to be flat at best this year.

Shares in Bovis have fallen just under 4pc over the past 12 months.

Article from: www.telegraph.co.uk 08/03/10

The 54-year-old actor has put the nine-bedroom, ten-bathroom home on the market.

The decision to offload the property, which has its own separate guest house, comes after he divorced his long-time wife Robyn last year and had a baby girl with new love Oksana Grigorieva.

Article from: www.metro.co.uk 08/03/10

In January 2009, first time buyers comprised 17% of new buyer registrations at Marsh & Parsons, but while there are plenty of buyers registering (over 2,600 so far in 2010), this number fell to 10% in January 2010 - and below one in ten in February. However, with so few London properties in the lower price threshold, the end of the stamp duty ‘holiday’ at the turn of the year has not played a significant part in this drop-off.

Between January 2008 and April 2009, house prices fell by up to 30% in some parts of London, and last year this improved affordability led to a large increase in demand from first time buyers, looking to get onto the property ladder. In August 2009, first time buyers made up almost one in five new registrations (19%), reaching a peak. However, strong house price growth in the capital since spring 2009 (up £39,602 or 13% on average) is now deterring growing numbers of first timers.

Peter Rollings, managing director of Marsh & Parsons, commented: “Central London may not be typical first time buyer territory, but it’s little wonder why. Mortgage lenders now typically require a 25% deposit from first time buyers, meaning they would need to put down over £84,000 to purchase the average London property – realistic for only the tiny minority with substantial parental assistance.

“The end of the stamp duty holiday has not had a great impact on demand, as so few purchases were eligible for exemption. The lack of homes priced below £175,000 meant only 13% of London transactions benefited from stamp duty relief in the first year of the holiday – and only 22% of these purchases were in Inner London boroughs. Higher average house prices mean London is the area where first time buyers are most in need of support and, if the government is serious about helping them, it must reintroduce the stamp holiday and – crucially – take into account the wide regional variations in prices.”

source: Mortgage Introducer