3 min.
Editorial Invest in Slovakia
In a new section, we bring you a selection of articles from other media over the last week and a summary of each of them. In 3 minutes you will get news from the world of finance, technology, and real estate.
The real estate market is slowing and bubbles are bursting. However, a steady fall in prices across the Czech Republic cannot be expected - According to data from real estate group EHS, property prices in the Czech Republic are slowly falling. Its head Hendrik Meyer predicts a correction in prices only of the low-quality ones. "The best quality properties, such as mid-sized apartments in city centres with good transport links, will continue to grow." This is also the case for prices of houses and holiday homes, which the Czechs still consider a good protection against inflation. However, rental prices are rising the most - by 6% on average. "Prices can be expected to rise throughout the next half of the year." - Jan Škrabánek, CEO of Bezrealitky.
Microsoft Shares Rise on Upbeat 2023 Sales Growth Forecast - Microsoft has issued a positive sales forecast for the next fiscal year. In it, it expects double-digit growth in operating income by June next year. Fluctuations in currency values should not reduce sales by more than 5% per year. Cloud products Azure and web versions of Office software are behind the increase in revenue.
Tech trends in financial services 2022 - The rise of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology has brought new uses for money, as well as exciting new forms of digital assets and markets. "Blockchain infrastructure is now being used to make sense of smart contracts and the transfer and exchange of value across the economy." - Lex Sokolin. "The advent of blockchain technology has brought unprecedented disruption to financial services." - Priya Guliani believes his app can be much more than just transparent transactions. For example, to provide a more efficient alternative to banking, based on the ideas of fairness and decentralization. This will allow individuals to manage their wealth without intermediaries or large institutions themselves.
Slovaks complain about expensive petrol. However, it is actually cheaper than ten years ago - Gasoline prices are high, but when inflation and wage growth are added, they are still below 2012 price levels. In 2022, for example, an average annual wage can buy 8,210 litres of the stuff, whereas in 2012 it would have been just 6,429 litres.
It's confirmed. The biggest real estate bubbles have started to burst. The second in order is Canada - According to Robert Hogue, an economist at Canada's largest bank (RBC), house prices will fall by over 12% and sales by 23% by the end of this year. The market in New Zealand has already gone through a similar development, where a 30% rise was followed by a sharp fall, the biggest in 13 years. Hogue called the forecast a correction, not a collapse, and said that "The unfolding downturn could be seen as a welcome cooling after two years of madness...".
There are other ways to invest in real estate than buying it through expensive mortgages - A person with an average salary in the Bratislava region would have to put aside his entire net salary for 12 years to buy a 3-room apartment with an area of approximately 70 square metres. The shortest time a resident of Nitra would have to save like this. However, there are other ways to invest in real estate (as I am sure you already know).
Christine Lagarde: Raising interest rates is the way to lower inflation - "Much of the current inflation trend is driven by factors beyond the control of central banks. However, we can do something to ensure that inflation does not become permanent... In that case, we could see wage-price spirals of the kind that have led to out-of-control inflation in the past," said Christine Lagarde, President of the ECB.
Slovak Savings Bank analyst: mortgage interest rates may be around 4 percent at the end of next year (+video) - According to the words of Maria Valachyova, chief economist of SLSP, Slovaks are expecting further growth in mortgage prices, but they will not reach the level of Czech ones. After 11 years, the ECB has raised its key interest rate by 0.5%, the reason being the high inflation rate. "The market is pricing in the possibility that the ECB could raise key interest rates to 2 percent." Average inflation is expected to reach 11.5% this year and around 8% next year due to rising energy prices. "It will return to the normal values we are used to once energy prices stabilise and the whole economy adjusts to the new level."
Pensions to rise the most in 20 years, should help seniors cope with big rises - "Pensions will increase by 11.8 % from January next year, which means an average of 69 euros per month. But of course, such significant pension growth is not free. Next year, the state will spend almost a billion euros from public finances on it." - Eduard Heger. In 2025, according to the IFP, the average pension will exceed EUR 700 (today it is EUR 516).
How to make money in stocks according to Warren Buffett's strategy - "Invest in yourself as much as you can. You are your own greatest asset," W. said. Buffet. "Everything you do to improve your talent and increase your value will come back to you in the form of adequate real purchasing power."
