Signs of housing market cool down
November 4, 2007 by admin
Filed under News, News-Mortgages
Predictions from many economists and analysts that the housing market in the UK is cooling down have been proven following figures relating to house prices for September.
According to figures house prices in September fell for the first time since December, and to many this reflects the start of the cooling down period for the UK housing market. The figures come from the HBOS house price survey. According to the figures there was a 0.6% drop in house prices, which was a far cry from the predicted 0.4% increase.
The average house prices has now fallen to just below the £200,000 mark, taking the annual three month rate of house price inflation to 10.7% compared to the expected 11.1% rise that had been forecast. Halifax officials state that although the economy remains strong it is likely that house price inflation will fall further in the coming months, as the housing market in the UK continues to cool.
Martin Ellis from the Halifax stated: “September’s price fall is consistent with the normal behaviour of the market during a slowdown. A mixed pattern of monthly price rises and falls is a typical feature of a more subdued housing market.”
This could mean good news for first time buyers that are looking to get onto the property ladder, but could result in problems for those that have recently taken out large mortgage, many of whom could find themselves falling into negative equity.
The likelihood of an impact on consumer spending has also increased as a result of the slowdown in the housing market.
One economist stated: “Since house prices gains have stalled, we believe it is highly likely that spending growth will also hit the wall in the months ahead.”
Tom Smith
4th November 2007
Fraud reduction through biometric recognition
October 10, 2007 by admin
Filed under News, News-Credit-Cards
Credit card fraud will be reduced with the implementation of biometric recognition technology say APACS.
According the UK trade association for payments, chip and pin has made a positive contribution to reducing credit card fraud. However, the future of further tackling the problem rests with biometric recognition.
These technologies use iris and finger print scans to make the misuse of credit cards more difficult.
A spokesperson for the association said: “In ten years time we probably won’t be using a pin anymore, we’ll be using biometric forms of identification.
“At the moment that technology is not robust enough for the banking industry to use but in ten years time we will probably be using one of those methods.”
He added that “fraud losses” rose annually from the middle of the 1990s right up until 2004 but have fallen of late thanks to the application of chip and pin identification.
APACS carried out research published this month that revealed a reduction in credit card losses. It showed that losses in 2004 were £218.8 million, dropping to just £72.1 million in 2006.
This represents a 67 per cent decrease since the introduction of pin identification during transactions.
Housing Market Cools
July 8, 2007 by admin
Filed under News, News-Mortgages
It seems that the UK property market may be cooling at last, as estate agents are reporting that there has been an increase in properties coming up for sale. In the last few months that number of sellers has increased, but interest from buyers has taken a downward turn.
One online agency reported that the number of properties for sale has risen by over 13% in April, far above expectations. Another internet agency said that it had seen an increase in properties on the market by nearly 20% compared with the same time a year before. The trend appears to be the same across the market.
Although the time of year does see an increase in properties on the market, this time the numbers seem higher than usual. The shortage of housing stock that has had an influence on the way the market has risen seems to be reducing. The sellers’ market looks as though it is coming to an end, and the market may be close to its peak.
It seems that properties in the £150,000-£350,000 price bracket are having the toughest time, where affordability is tight and the slowdown is likely to bite hardest. First-time buyers are finding it extremely difficult to get into the market as property has been pushed further beyond their reach.
Another influence on the number of properties coming to market has been the wish to avoid the need for Home Information Packs (HIPs) in the lead up to their planned introduction of 1 June, and again in the lead up to the new date of 1 August.
Bank of England mortgage figure approval figures reached a twelve-month low in April at 107,000.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors believed that the HIPS, the continued increase in house prices and the increase in interest rates have combined to lead bring about a cooling of the market.
Estate agents believe that HIPs are single biggest reason for the increase in properties coming to market. These look to be extremely unpopular with sellers who will have to go to more trouble than before and, of course, pay for the packs.
Buyers, however, will see benefits with all the information they need in a single accessible pack. The uncertainty surrounding the introduction of HIPs has led to confusion, especially with the change in emphasis by the government, who said that the Packs would only be applicable to homes with four or bedrooms when the new date was announced.
Since then there has been even more confusion with a recent comment that there will be enough trained energy assessors by 1 August to encompass three bedroom houses. The government maintain that they announced that houses of smaller size will be included in the scheme as soon as enough assessors are available. If that happens by 1 August then three-bedrooms homes are likely to be included.
The general economy remains strong and interest in property is liable to remain so too. When confusion over HIPs dies down in the coming months, we are likely to see a return to normal trends.
Tom Smith
8th July 2007
