London house prices: First-time home buyers face nightmare market as deposits soar and supply lags July 31, 2015 We all know how tough the housing market is for first-time buyers, and one of the main reasons is lack of supply. Much has been said about how the government is looking to tackle this problem by encouraging housebuilders to ramp up construction of new builds. But figures out this morning show that far from [...]
S&P: Interest rate rise by the Bank of England won’t send property prices plummeting July 30, 2015 Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) said today that an interest rate rise this year could slow house price growth, however a number of structural factors will support demand and prevent an outright decline. "The issue is whether the rise in interest rates that we expect to start in late 2015 could eventually bring [...]
Bank of England mortgage lending figures show a rush to remortgage as interest rate hike comes closer July 30, 2015 The mortgage market is hotting up, according to new figures, as rock bottom rates and the prospect of an interest rate rise fuel extra home buying and remortgaging. Net lending secured on dwellings jumped to £2.6bn in June, from £2.4bn in May, the highest figure since July 2008, the Bank of England said today. The [...]
London startups reconsider the capital after a year because of property prices July 29, 2015 A newly established business setting up shop in London is more likely to consider moving out of the capital after a honeymoon first year, and the high cost of renting is to blame. The likelihood of leaving London jumps by nearly half after the first year, with 66 per cent reconsidering its location after 12 [...]
OntheMarket will fizzle out before its first birthday because unlike Zoopla and RightMove it serves the middlemen, not home buyers and sellers July 29, 2015 Years ago, estate agents used to sell properties via traditional marketing campaigns, from listings in a shop window to double page adverts in the local newspaper. Times have certainly changed and these days nearly all property buyers head to Zoopla or Rightmove to find their next property. This week marks the six-month birthday for [...]
UK house prices: Rightmove share price jumps as it absorbs business from rivals July 29, 2015 It seems the launch of an estate agent-run portal which forces agents to choose between Rightmove and Zoopla has done no harm to the former, after it reported a 16 per cent rise in revenues during the first half of the year. The figures The housing boom continues to benefit Rightmove: revenues rose to £93.1m in [...]
The National Association of Estate Agents: Number of house hunters hits an 11-year high July 29, 2015 The number of people hunting for a new home in Britain hit an 11-year high last month amid a dwindling housing stock and sky-high prices. Figures released today by the The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) showed around 439 house hunters were registered to each estate agent branch in the UK last month. This [...]
Foxtons upbeat about second half after pre-election jitters slowed property sales July 29, 2015 Blood on the residential street? Revenues at London estate agent Foxtons have dropped in the first half, as property sales slide. The figures: Group revenue at the agency fell 2.3 per cent to £71.1m for the six months to 30 June, while property sales fell 10.9 per cent against 2014, when the market was operating [...]
Time to move to Chatham? Best value commuter towns cut thousands off London house prices July 29, 2015 A one hour commute can knock around £450,000 off the average price of a house, according to new research published today by a major UK bank. Towns which are an hour’s commute from central London, which include Crawley, Newbury, Colchester and Chatham have an average property price of £272,000 – a significant contrast to the average [...]
Buy-to-let enthusiasm can drive new supply if we demolish housing barriers July 28, 2015 It was at the time of another landmark Budget – Nigel Lawson’s in 1988 – that the UK’s rental market as we know it first began to emerge. The Housing Act’s deregulation measures of the same year, notably liberalising rents, set the scene for rapid growth in the private rented sector. This was fuelled by [...]