House prices could take years to recover according to Bloomberg survey

A survey from Bloomberg has suggested that property prices in the UK could take a number of years to recover back to the level that they were at back in 2007, before the credit crunch hit. Since around October of 2007 house prices have plunged in the UK, although the last few months have seen some nominal increases in property values. Read more

Tags: house prices, housing market, Bloomberg, Real estate, economics

More millionaires created from house price boom than from lottery

It has been revealed that a greater number of millionaires have been created in Britain as a result of the house price boom than as a result of the National Lottery. In fact, according to reports over the past decade and a half twenty times more millionaires have been spawned from the boom in property prices than through the luck of the draw in the National Lottery. The study was carried out by High Street bank HSBC as the nationwide prize draw celebrated its fifteenth year. Read more

Tags: National Lottery, Wealth, housing market, money, Millionaire

Problems in housing market for younger Scots

It has been claimed that in the current financial climate many younger Scots are suffering problems when it comes to getting onto the property ladder. Read more

Tags: house prices, scottish housing market, deposit problems, housing market, first time buyers, percentage rate, first time buyer, official

Opinions split over housing revival

Over the past few months there has been a turnaround in terms of property prices in the UK, and following a long period of house price falls property prices have been increasing again, albeit at a fairly modest rate. Read more

Tags: housing market, peak, National Association of Estate Agents, global economic recovery, house price revival, conditions property prices, house, agency

Property prices to be higher at end of this year than the last

It has been predicted that at the end of this year house prices will be higher than they were at the end of last year, with many industry experts expecting a slight rebound in both the property market and the economy. Read more

Tags: housing market, bank, market, Chartered Surveyors, property prices, concern, industry experts, case

Ups and downs for the property market

Over the past couple of weeks the property market has seen both ups and downs, with industry officials stating that whilst there is improvement in some areas of the property market there are also many problems that are still affecting the property market quite severely. Read more

Tags: royal, property prices, housing market, Business Finance, fitch ratings

Over a decade to full recovery for housing market

It has been claimed that a full recovery for the property market in the UK could still be quite some way away, with some industry official claiming that it could be more than another decade before the property market makes a proper recovery. Read more

Tags: PricewaterhouseCoopers, housing market, market, property prices, supply

Have You Considered Swapping Homes Instead of Selling?

A new trend has arisen in the housing market among those wishing to either upgrade or downsize in their homes. With the housing market in a slump, many who would like to sell their homes are unable to do so because the prices have hit an all-time low. They would not be able to receive enough profit from the sale for it to be of any financial benefit for them. Read more

Tags: housing market, past year, home swap, single red paper, process, experience, Direct Property Exchange, sell home

Prices of UK Homes Still Falling

With the increases in mortgage lending that occurred in the UK during the month of March, many homeowners felt that the recession was nearing an end and that they would soon start to see an increase in house prices. Read more

Tags: duty, home buyers, Mortgages, house prices, April, real earnings, housing market, fact

Mortgage Approval Rates are on the Rise – Is the Recession Coming to a Close?

According to the figures from the mortgage industry for the month of March, it seems that lenders are once again starting to approve mortgages for homeowners. An increase of 16% in the number of mortgages approved in March seems to send a signal that the recession in the UK housing market may have bottomed out and is finally starting to rise once again. Read more

Tags: Chartered Surveyors, HM Revenue & Customs, council of mortgage lenders, recession, mortgage approvals, housing market, mortgage industry experts, director general

First time buyers still having to put up with renting

For many years many non-homeowners that simply couldn’t afford to buy a home due to ten years of rocketing property values have been waiting in the wings for property prices to start coming down again, over in the latter part of 2007 many were delighted to find that this was indeed happening at last. Read more

Tags: bank of england, Mortgages, large number, first time buyer, Mortgage loan, housing market, first time buyers, year

Lower interest rates sparks interest in property market

According to a recent report the dramatic drop in interest rates that has taken place over recent months has resulted in renewed interest in the housing market from would be buyers. Read more

Tags: year, Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, property market, housing market, low interest rates, margins, time buyers, rates

Brits focusing on repaying their mortgages

Recently released figures have indicated that many Brits are now focusing on trying to repay their mortgage debts rather than accruing even more debt. In the third quarter of this year more money was ploughed into the housing market than every before, as Brits tried desperately to pay off as much as they could on their mortgages and tried to avoid getting deeper into debt. The figures were released by the Bank of England and related to mortgage repayments between July and September of this year. Read more

Tags: independent mortgage broker, United States, England figures, Economic history, housing market, Mortgages, scared stiff, mortgage debts

October sees further house price falls

Recently released figures from the Halifax have shown that house prices have fallen again in October, this time by 2.2 percent. This follows a smaller drop in September, and according to Halifax figures has resulted in the annual house price falling to 13.7 percent, although according to Nationwide the annual drop is larger at 14.7 percent. Halifax officials have said that the average house price is now around £30,000 lower than a year ago, coming in at £168,176. Read more

Tags: royal, housing market, likelihood, stabilise, rate

UK asking prices getting lower

A recent report has shown how asking prices on properties in the UK are getting lower with a fall of an average 3.2% in asking prices over recent weeks. The data comes from property experts Right Move. Many experts have already predicted that the housing market will continue to cool down over the coming year, and there has already been much evidence that the housing market is far more subdued than it was earlier in the year, with a number of factors dampening the housing and mortgage sectors.

One of the factors that is thought to have affected the housing market is the roll out of Home Information Packs, which were rolled out to all residential properties being marketed for sale in England and Wales from the middle of December 2007. This has caused “further confusion at a sensitive time for the property market” according to some experts. However, experts from Right Move have added that there is always a slowdown at this time of year.

Asking price averages have also fallen because there are now more smaller, lower prices properties coming onto the market rather than larger, more expensive properties, state experts. There was an average fall in asking prices of 6.8% in the London area according to figures, and this has also been partly blamed on the level of smaller properties coming on the market rather than larger houses and apartments.

One Right Move expert stated that over the coming year house prices are more likely to stagnate than actually crash. He also said: “New listings are low at this time of year so the artificial wave of ‘low-end’ sellers has really distorted the average prices of properties new to the market.”

Recent Additions:

• 100% mortgage customers should watch out for negative equity
• Homeowners are not as well off as tenants
• Increasing number of first time buyers look to brokers for assistance
• Gazundering becoming more commonplace
• Unions angry over insurance job cuts

Tags: housing market, United States housing bubble, property price, uk, evidence, first time buyer, mortgage, Economy of the Republic of Ireland

UK private housing market valued at £4tn

UK homes are worth a total of £4 trillion, according to new research from the Halifax.

The findings revealed that the value of the UK’s private housing stock rose by 9 per cent (nearly £320 billion) in 2007.

Martin Ellis, chief economist at Halifax, said: “UK home owners have collectively accumulated an extra £2 trillion of equity in their homes over the past decade as property prices have risen.

“This has significantly strengthened the household balance sheet. Mortgage debt accounts for only 30 per cent of the value of the UK’s £4 trillion worth of housing assets,” he added.

The value of the housing stock has more than tripled over the past decade, rising by 208 per cent from £1.3 trillion in 1997.

By comparison, the headline retail price index (RPI) has risen by 31 per cent over the past ten years.

Meanwhile, the Bank of England’s decision to hold interest rates at 5.5 per cent is “not all doom and gloom” for home buyers, according to the Leeds Building Society.

Tags: interest rates, housing market, price, economics, headline retail price index, finance

CML: House prices not affected by mortgage shortage

The reduction in the availability of mortgage products is unlikely to affect house prices.

According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), the sub-prime sector is most likely to be affected and this would have only a minimal impact on the housing market in the UK.

Bernard Clarke, a spokesperson for the CML, explained: “The housing market continues to be underpinned by consumer demand for owner occupation, strong aspirations for owner occupation and there’s a shortage of supply.

“Those fundamentals will continue to underpin the market to a much greater extent than any shortage of mortgage products to customers.”

He added that despite fluctuations, uncertainty and speculations over a possible collapse, there remains confidence in the market.

Moneyfacts has recently revealed that the availability of buy-to-let and residential mortgage products has reduced by 40 per cent in the last few months.

Furthermore, 72 per cent of bad buy-to-let mortgage products were taken off the market as well as 54 per cent of bad credit residential mortgage products.

Tags: economics, uk, housing market, Mortgage loan, confidence

Nationwide house price report shows slowdown

Nationwide house price report shows slowdown

Further evidence for a rapidly-cooling house price market comes today, with the release of the monthly report from lenders Nationwide.

Seasonally adjusted, house prices made a gain of 0.1 per cent for July – the slowest growth for over a year, and a negation of the gains from the last set of results in June.

The annual rate of inflation is also down, currently standing at 9.9 per cent: numbers had been in the double digits for the last three months.

Nationwide starkly stated that the “risk of monetary overkill” looms large over the housing market.

The lender also welcomed the government’s housing green paper, which proposes that more affordable homes be built; yet “as the recent flooding shows, the challenges ahead are substantial”, it adds.

Many analysts will be surprised by the results, with Reuters reporting that a 0.5 per cent gain and an annual reading of 10.6 per cent had been predicted.

Tags: Nationwide house price, Toronto, evidence, housing market, government

50% of income going on mortgage

Some Londoners are spending as much as 50 per cent of their take-home income on their mortgages.

New figures from Woolwich highlight the precarious situation that many homeowners find themselves in and things could get worse with the Bank of England widely expected to announce a 0.25 per cent interest rate rise today (July 5th).

The average first-time buyer in the UK is said to be forking out 32.4 per cent of their take-home income on mortgage payments as property prices boom and people become evermore desperate to get onto the housing ladder.

The figures are a concern for many industry figures and Andy Gray, head of mortgages at the Woolwich, said further rate rises are likely to have a massive impact on the housing market.

“We fully expect the average age of first-time buyers to go up until people are well into their 30s,” he revealed.

“For those lucky enough to be on the ladder, the data suggests that in certain areas of London they are already stretched. The last thing any of them need is a further increase in base rates.”

First-time buyers, many of whom are understandably desperate to get onto the property ladder, are advised to carefully calculate their finances before taking out a mortgage to ensure that they are financially prepared for any future rate rises or changes to their circumstances.

Tags: andy gray, housing market, United Kingdom, market, increase

New buyers need parents’ help

It is becoming so difficult for first-time buyers to get onto the property ladder that 31 per cent anticipate getting help from their parents to do so.

A further 35 per cent are so daunted by the housing market that they feel they need financial help in order to get their first mortgage,

Research from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) shows that younger people are genuinely struggling to get onto the property market without some kind of financial help.

Figures show that 23 per cent of all homeowners had help from their parents to get where they are today, while that number soars for younger owners.

Of those aged under 29 or younger, 39 per cent had help from their parents and it seems as though this trend is set to continue.

“We were intrigued last year to find that, while around eight out of ten people believed it had never been harder for first-time buyers to enter the market and that action was needed, only eight per cent of them felt that parents should do more to help,” said Bob Pannell, head of research at CML. “Our new research helps to explain why.

“Over the past few years, parents have already been providing significant help to younger home-buyers and there is uncertainty about whether they can do even more.”

Of those who said they think they will need financial help to get onto the property ladder, only 62 per cent expect to get it.

Tags: kind, year, Banking, mortgage, housing market, order, Council, younger owners.Of

Hips win vote

The introduction of Home Information Packs (Hips) has survived a last-ditch postponement attempt following a vote in the House of Commons.

Hips are due to become a mandatory part of the home-selling process from June 1st but opposition MPs, as well as a number of industry figures, oppose the packs in their current form.

Shadow foreign secretary William Hague, speaking during a debate in the Commons, described Hips as a “looming fiasco” and a “mistake”.

Tory Spokesman Michael Gove said that the introduction of Hips was “folly” and warned that the housing market will suffer as a result.

“They [Hips] will do nothing to take the strain out of home-buying and only add cost and complexity to the housing market,” he said.

“Ministers have botched this process from beginning to end. They have ploughed on regardless of the potential damage that they are doing to the housing market at an acutely delicate time.”

Hips are designed to reduce the number of home-selling transactions which collapse at the last minute, rid the process of gazumping and encourage homeowners to make their properties more energy efficient.

However, those who oppose their introduction say that they offer few benefits to consumers and, with each Hip costing between £400 and £600, add to the cost of selling a home.

Despite their victory in the House of Commons, by a majority of 72, Hips still face a potentially fatal vote in the House of Lords next week, as well as a legal challenge from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.

Tags: opposition, house, Home Information Packs, minute, mistake