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: Millionaire, National Lottery, london, Wealth, property prices, Lottery, housing market, property consultant, money

£31,000 fall in average household wealth

It has recently been reported that average household wealth in the UK has fallen by around £31,000 since last year, with households seeing their household wealth drop as a result of the global credit crunch and the ongoing recession. Read more

Tags: Wealth, bank, household wealth, homes in addition, Household, billions, factor, property prices

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

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, fitch ratings, good news, housing market, Business Finance, industry officials

Property classed as pension for millions

According to the results of recent research there are millions of homeowners in Britain who are relying on their properties to provide them with income with which to retire. Read more

Tags: adults, property prices, sufficient funds, expert, personal finance, pensions

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: property prices, firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers, supply, market, housing market, bust, memories

Fall in property rents noted by RICS

According to recently released reports the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors has noted a fall in rents in the UK in the three months leading up to April. Read more

Tags: suitable tenants, scotland, london, house prices, rental market, mortgage

How much will your property be worth by the end of this year?

Like many homeowners there is a good chance that you are fretting over how far the value of your property is likely to fall over the course of this year, with house prices having already dropped by over 15 percent on an annual basis compared to a year ago. Read more

Tags: property value, elephant, property sales levels, due, house prices, mortgage lenders, real problems

House prices have plunged over last year

Over recent months homeowners and industry officials have seen one report after another that has shown how house prices are falling steadily on a month on month basis, and there has already been a significant fall in the value of homes compared to last year before the housing bubble burst. It has now been said that property prices have started falling at the fastest pace since the 1990s, and thousands of pounds have been wiped off the value of the average house price over the past year. Read more

Tags: increase, Peak oil, October, property prices, Business Finance, housing bubble burst, measures, house prices

Borrowers offered huge mortgage deals

Borrowers can now take out a mortgage of up to six times their salaries, according to recent reports.

Mortgage lenders are now willing to splash out huge loans to allow desperate first-time buyers to get on the property ladder, with soaring property prices and a lack of affordable housing becoming major stumbling blocks.

The Daily Telegraph claims high street names such as Alliance & Leicester, the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Northern Rock are now lending huge amounts compared to a person’s salary.

Nick Gardner from Chase De Vere Mortgage Management told the paper: “We have done deals for more than six times income with Alliance and Leicester, and very near that with Abbey and Intelligent Finance.”

But borrowers must still meet strict “affordability criteria”, claim the banks, meaning borrowers must be on high-end salaries, sometimes as high as £100,000 per year, or take on mortgages of a long-term fixed rate.

Of course, critics argue this means people who can normally afford a mortgage anyway will be the only ones to benefit from the deals.

Tags: huge loans, property prices, daily telegraph, Affordable housing, mortgage management, major stumbling blocks.The, abbey, long-term fixed rate.Of

Property shortage fuels price rises

A new report says that house prices are rising due to a lack of property for sale on the market.

The Rightmove Price Index has found that prices in Britain have risen from an average of £221,751 in December, to £222,859 in January.

That means annual house price inflation is up to 13.5 per cent and the rise is being put down to a lack of housing.

The index says that housing stock is 18 per cent lower than it was at the same time last year, with Rightmove citing this as a major factor in the price rises.

“Where there are shortages of property, prices will keep increasing and properties will keep selling, in spite of the latest interest rate rise,” said Miles Shipside, Rightmove commercial director.

“The reason house prices are defying the gravity of a six-year high in interest rates is because the number of new households is growing by 50,000 a year, more than the supply of new build.”

The Bank of England has recently raised interest rates in a bid to bring the housing market under control, but Mr Shipside pointed out that this may be a risky strategy.

“Slowing property prices by raising interest rates several times in quick succession is not only incredibly painful for existing and potential homeowners’ mortgage payments, it’s a high-risk strategy for the economy given the possibility of rates going too high,” he said.

Rightmove has revealed that it expects to see property prices rise by six per cent this year.

Tags: property prices, housing.The index, major factor, mortgage payments, Rightmove, Business Finance, bank of england