Home repossessions slide to lowest since crisis ahead of interest rate hike August 14, 2014 The lowest number of homes were repossessed in the first half of 2014 than in any six month period since 2006, according to figures released yesterday. The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) yesterday showed that 11,800 homes were repossessed in the first half of the year, down from 15,600 in the first half of 2013. [...]
Top five tips for buying property at auction for beginners August 14, 2014 There’s more than one way to buy a property, but a significant proportion of buyers still favour making a trip to the estate agent or, increasingly, searching online to find their next home. For years, savvy property investors have found bargains in auction houses, where a vast range of buildings, from period houses in need [...]
London house prices to finally cool down as homeowners rush to sell properties August 11, 2014 The frothy London housing market is likely to come off the boil in the months ahead, with owners rushing to sell their properties following the recent surge in prices and buyers increasingly reticent to match the escalating valuations. The number of people looking to sell homes in the capital has climbed by nearly a third, [...]
Mortgage approvals for first-time buyers rise as UK house price growth slows August 11, 2014 Mortgage lending is still being dominated by customers looking to buy houses rather than remortgage, and first-time buyers are on the up. According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) total gross lending for June was up six per cent on May and 20 per cent up on June 2013, totalling £17.9bn. £4.2bn of that [...]
UK house prices up 10.2 per cent – five graphs that show the rise August 6, 2014 Are they up or are they down? Halifax has released its latest house price figures which show a 10.2 per cent annual change and a 1.4 per cent rise in the last month, beating expectations. There has been a lot of speculation that the market is slowing, in part due to measures to regulate mortgage [...]
In graphs: UK house prices rise just 0.1 per cent in July July 31, 2014 First it was the Land Registry telling us and now it's Nationwide: the upward spiral of house prices is coming to an end, at least for now. The latest figures from Nationwide show that the average house price in the UK rose by just 0.1 per cent, below expectations of a 0.5 per cent increase [...]
House lending bounces as regulation squeeze eases July 29, 2014 Lending for house buyers is bouncing back after a knock from new regulations, as figures yesterday confirmed the biggest increase in mortgage approvals since 2008. There were 67,196 mortgages for house purchases approved in June, according to the Bank of England – a rise of more than 5,000 from May, and the fastest for five [...]
As Halifax reports buyer confidence slipping, is the housing market finally cooling down? July 28, 2014 Howard Archer, chief European and UK economist at IHS Global Insight, says Yes. It’s not guaranteed that current signs that the housing market is cooling will prove lasting, but house price growth has likely peaked. The new regulations under the Mortgage Market Review have clearly had at least a temporary effect in taking some steam [...]
In graphs: London house prices no longer the fastest growing in the UK July 28, 2014 The Land Registry has released new data on house prices in England and Wales and the figures show the market is cooling. The average across England and Wales shows that prices are stagnant – showing no change at all. The average selling price for a house in England and Wales during June was £172,011: a zero per [...]
House lending bounces back after new rules July 23, 2014 MORTGAGE approvals were on the rise again in June, according to figures released yesterday, following the onset of a new bundle of regulations earlier this year. There were 43,265 mortgages approved for borrowers buying houses last month, according to the British Bankers’ Association (BBA). This is up from May’s figure, but below the average of [...]