The number of buyers in the UK housing market has risen three months in a roll, as lower prices boost interest, according to figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). But it said first-time buyers were still largely frozen out of the market, as lenders demand high deposits. Existing homeowners are the main source of the increased interest, as well as investors.
Archive for the ‘House prices’ Category
Buy enquiries still on the rise
Wednesday, February 18th, 2009Base rate falls while house prices rise
Friday, February 6th, 2009
The Bank of England cut interest rates to a new record low of 1% on Thursday. While the Halifax reported that house prices rose 1.9% during January. This is in contrast with Nationwide’s figures last week which showed 1.3% drop in house prices. As the credit-crunch has shown, the supply of finance has driven up house prices. There will be no full scale recovery in the UK property market until finance becomes easier to obtain, especially for first-time buyers. And with rising unemployment, who knows what the future will bring!
2000 jobs axed at Persimmon
Saturday, July 12th, 2008
Builder Persimmon today axed 2000 jobs as it fights the worst slump in the housing market for 30 years. the firm has cut 1100 of its full-time workforce since the start of the year and plans to lay off 900 temporary staff. It followed 1000 job cuts at rival Barratt Developments and 900 at Taylor Wimpey - with hundreds more expected at the likes of Bovis Homes and Redrow before the bloodletting is over.
Persimmon also said house sales fell 31% in the first half of the year with the average selling price down from £189,255 to £181,500, leaving revenues 34% down on last year. Shares in the housebuilding sector have crashed by around 90% since early last year as the housing boom ground to a halt.
£300bn wiped off value of British homes
Thursday, June 12th, 2008Britons have collectively seen nearly £300 billion wiped off the value of their homes since house prices first began to fall in September last year, research by property valuation website Zoopla.co.uk has showed. This is equivalent to more than £1 billion a day being wiped off the collective value of British homes. But it added that the recent price falls should be seen in the context of strong gains in recent years, with the value of Britain’s housing stock soaring by £750 billion during the past three years and £1.7 trillion during the past five years.
How to avoid the negative equity trap
Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008Here are a list of what you can do:
- If your mortgage is interest-only, switch to repayment asap. It will be more expensive in the short term but will save you thousands in interest in the long run.
- Pay extra on your mortgage every month. This will reduce the debt and cut the interest that you are charged each month. But check how much you are allowed to repay penalty free.
- If you want to repay more than the bank will allow penalty free then put the extra cash into a cash Isa first for tax free savings. This can then be used to bolster your equity when you want to move home or remortgage.
- Don’t be tempted to borrow from other sources such as credit cards to repay your mortgage.
For more information, visit thisismoney.com
London’s negative equity locations
Sunday, April 20th, 2008The London postcodes at greatest risk from the housing crisis was revealed today by the Evening Standard. Tens of thousands of home owners across the capital will be plunged into negative equity this year if property prices fall by 20%. People who have taken on huge mortgages compared with the value of their property will owe more than the building is worth. The worst hit would be buy-to-let investors who tried to cash in on the housing boom, according to analysis obtained by the Evening Standard. Below are the top 10 streets and London boroughs most likely to be affected. Find out more at thisismoney.co.uk.
Top 10 London streets most at risk:
Calderwood Street SE18
Erebus Drive SE28
Queenstown Road SW8
Woolwich Common SE18
St Saviours Estate SE1
Glashier Street SE8
Greenhaven Drive SE28
St John’s Estate N1
Great Dover Street SE1
Borough High Street SE1
Risk level by London boroughs:
Click to enlarge
Last lender pulls 125% mortgage deal
Saturday, February 23rd, 2008Lenders have completely pulled out of the 125% mortgage market as the credit crunch continues to bite. Birmingham Midshires Solutions said it was pulling its version of the product, which will lend people up to 125% of their property’s value, due to market conditions. The group had been the only provider to continue offering the deals after Alliance & Leicester, Abbey, Northern Rock, Coventry Building Society and Godiva Mortgages all said they were scrapping them earlier this week. Faced with only limited availability of funds, lenders are keen to concentrate on less risky mortgages, and the problem has been compounded by fears that house prices could fall. There are now just two mortgage providers who will advance more than 100% of a property’s value, with Scottish Widows offering loans of 110% to professionals only, while Dunfermline Building Society is offering 110% to professionals and 105% to graduates but only in Scotland.
Government rakes in £31bn in stamp duty
Thursday, February 21st, 2008Homebuyers have forked out £31.5bn in stamp duty over the past ten years. Last year alone, the figure reached £6.5bn - a staggering 675% increase since Labour came to power. In 1997-1998, just £830m in stamp duty was paid. Increases introduced by Gordon Brown when he was Chancellor, which were widely criticised at the time, are forcing record numbers of homebuyers to pay stamp duty. Before Labour came to power, the tax was charged at just one per cent on all properties sold for £60,000 or more. Today, it is charged at 1% on houses costing between £125,000 and £250,000, 3% on those worth from £250,000 to £500,000 and 4% for those sold for more than £500,000. In London, the average asking price for a home is £402,000, which would mean stamp duty of more than £12,000. The majority of first-time buyers are now forced to pay the tax, which - coupled with the recent property boom - makes finding enough money to buy a home even harder.
Insurance reminder for Landlords
Wednesday, February 20th, 2008Landlords are being reminded to value their properties accurately for insurance purposes. Around 2.76 million properties are owned by landlords across the UK. They are currently valued at approximately £641 billion, up from £571 billion this time last year. It is recommended that portfolios should be reassessed every two years to avoid the risk of underinsurance. Meanwhile Halifax General Insurance is reminding all property owners of the scale of storm damage experienced across Britain last year. Over 1.5 million homes had their roofs damaged by high winds and the value of claims resulting from water entering properties from a hole in the roof totalled £2.5 billion. Storm damage appears to be on the increase in the UK and Martyn Foulds, senior claims manager at Halifax Home Insurance, warns: “homeowners without adequate buildings insurance cover risk finding a huge hole blown in their finances by the cost of repairs”.
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