Today's business and finance round up 2nd February 2022

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2nd February 2022

Bite-sized business news from the UK and beyond

Good morning After almost 200 years the humble postage stamp is getting a digital makeover. Royal Mail has added special barcodes to stamps, making it possible for people to watch videos, read messages and view other information from senders.

Today's stories

• Housing market has strongest start to the year in almost two decades

• New York Times snaps up viral word game

PROPERTYHousing market has strongest start to the year in almost two decades

What’s going on?UK property prices rose by 11.2% last month compared to the year before – the highest January increase since 2005, according to new data from mortgage lender Nationwide.

Why is this important?

The latest house price index from Nationwide is further evidence of just how resilient the UK housing market continues to be.The average price of a UK home reached £255,556 in January, rising for the sixth month in a row. The market has been growing strongly since the end of the first lockdown in 2020, buoyed by the stamp duty holiday and people working from home seeking bigger properties. Nationwide said that relatively low inventory of homes for sale was also adding further pressure to prices.The total number of transactions in 2021 was the highest since 2007 and around 25% higher than in 2019, before the pandemic struck.The big question is whether the market will continue to rise in 2022. Nationwide believes that a cooldown is on the cards as property price growth gets further detached from wage growth making home ownership less affordable.For example, a 10% deposit on a typical first-time buyer home is now equivalent to 56% of total income, a record high. On top of this household finances are facing strain from the sharp rise in the cost of living this year.

Zooming out

Super low interest rates since 2008 have been a huge driver of the booming housing market. But with inflation reaching 5.4% in December – 30-year high – the Bank of England has started edging up interest rates to combat spiralling prices.Tomorrow the Bank is expected to vote unanimously to raise interest rates for a second month running, from 0.25% to 0.5%. Analysts forecast that a further rise could happen before the end of the year. This in time will feed through to mortgage rates and could dampen the housing market.

MEDIANew York Times snaps up viral word game

If someone had told you that a puzzle released to the public last October would sell for millions just a few months later to a media giant, then you may have had trouble believing them.But that’s what happened to Wordle, the viral word game that has taken the world by storm this year. It was played by just 90 people in November and today millions of people play it every day.On Monday the New York Times bought the puzzle from its British creator Josh Wardle for a price in the "low-seven figures." Not a bad return for a game designed to entertain Wardle’s puzzle loving partner during Covid.The acquisition is all part of the Times strategy to invest in puzzle businesses as they are highly engaging and drive advertising and subscription revenue. Wordle joins the Times’ portfolio of other word games like Crossword and Spelling Bee.The deal caps off an active period of buying for the publication. Last month, it announced a $550M acquisition of The Athletic, a leading subscription sports website.The Times confirmed that that Wordle would remain “initially free” which means that it could move behind a paywall in the future.The newspaper will hope that Wordle doesn’t become another Internet fad and lose popularity like other games. For example Zynga's $200m acquisition of OMGPop, the maker of once-popular "Draw Something," which was shutdown just a year after the deal.

Stat of the day

A record 2.3m people missed the self-assessment tax return 31 January deadline

Other stories to keep you in the loop

• UK consumers save less and borrow more as living costs rise

• UK government lost over £8bn in PPE contracts last year

• Google remains dominant as company reports quarterly profits of $20bn

• Tesco puts 1,600 jobs at risk as it ends overnight restocking

• Carbon dioxide crisis averted after new price deal agreed

• KPMG UK partner pay jumps 20% to £688,000 thanks to ‘hottest deal market ever’

• Aldi and M&S settle Colin vs Cuthbert ‘copycat’ caterpillar cake battle

• Tesla recalls 54,000 vehicles

Interesting links from around the web

• 6 ways to keep up fitness habits when you return to the office

• The real reason IKEA makes you assemble your own furniture

• After retiring Tom Brady's focused on building a business empire

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