 
Quick Move Blog
Thursday, 31 May 2007
Bank of England figures today show that new mortgage approvals in the UK fell to a 12 month low in April. With 107,000 approvals, April was the third monthly decline in a row.
A further indication of weakening demand was that mortgage lending rose by £8.6bn, much less than expected and the smallest rise since Sept 2006.
According to analysts, this news shows that the Bank of England's monetary tightening is beginning to work in cooling off consumer lending.
Wednesday, 30 May 2007
In England and Wales, prices rose by an average 9.1% in April, faster than the rate of 8.3% in March.
The average home in England and Wales now costs £179,935 - £15k more than 12 months ago.
The Land Registry figures indicate that overall prices are being driven by the London market where the average home now costs £333,785.
New figures from Hometrack for May, however, suggest that the property market is slowing down. According to their figures, the number of new sales rose by 4.6% in May, down from 9.6% in April. The number of new buyers registering with agents also fell.
Expectations are that Bank of England figures tomorrow will show a slowdown in mortgage approvals, confirming a weakening in demand. Last month's interest rate rise is also expected to eventually stabilise soaring property prices. However analysts are yet to forecast when a slowdown in prices rises will occur.
According to Howard Archer of Global Insight, a general property shortgage, particularly in London and the South East will keep prices up. He did suggest that the introduction of Hips (now delayed) had brought more properties onto the market but this was likely to only have a short term impact.
According to The Times, thousands of buy-to-let owners could face tax bills from up to six years ago.
According to the source, HM Revenue & Customs is implementing a crackdown on unpaid duty and excess mortgage relief and has identified 80,000 landlords who have claimed too much tax relief or have failed to declare rent and capital gains.
The tax office is able to claim unpaid taxes from six years ago with fines equal to the amount owed plus interest.
Tuesday, 22 May 2007
After pressure from the industry and parliament, the government has today announced that the introduction of Home Information Packs (HIPs) will be delayed.
HIPs are now to be phased in, beginning with 4 bed houses from August. Also sellers will only have to have commissioned a HIP prior to marketing their property, rather that have a completed pack.
We certainly haven't heard the last of this one!
Research by internet property website Rightmove.co.uk has found that the rate of growth in house prices has slowed, which has been attributed mostly to the introduction of HIPs.
According to the Rightmove, rises in the average asking price for a UK property stayed almost stable, with only a 0.4 gain since May 12th. The worst hit area was the West Midlands, with a 2.6 per cent dip, followed by the north-west and east regions.
Rightmove.co.uk said the slow down in growth was attributable to the four interest rate rises since 2007 and the introduction of HIPs creating a rush of sellers to the market before the June 1st HIPs deadline.
A report by Global Insights was bearish on the growth of the UK property market, arguing it is "coming off the boil", and although growth will continue, worries over further interest rate rises would dampen the recent accelerated pace of price rises.
Monday, 14 May 2007
Complaints about estate agents rose by a third last year, with 8,000 people complaining to the Ombudsman for Estate Agents (OEA) in 2006.
Bungled administrations, fees and sales details were the main sources of complaints.
According to Chris Hamer, head of the service, the rise in the number of complaints was "down to people being less ready to be satisfied with something which they perceived as poor service - given the size of the financial commitment that they're taking on".
If you want to avoid the inherent stress of selling your property through estate agents, call Quick Move Now. We are the largest private house buying company in the UK, focused on helping people who need to sell their house quickly, or who want to avoid using estate agents and paying estate agent fees.
Thursday, 10 May 2007
As widely predicted, interest rates were increased today by 0.25% to 5.5%. This now puts the cost of borrowing to its highest level since 2001.
If rates rises are making it difficult for you to meet your mortgage payments, get in touch with Quick Move Now - we may be able to help you.
Friday, 4 May 2007
Mortgage approvals in the UK fell to their lowest in almost a year in March, a possible sign that higher borrowing costs are cooling the housing market.
Lenders granted 111,000 mortgages, the least since April 2006 and down from a 117,000 in February, according to the Bank of England.
Economist, Howard Archer (of Global Insight), suggests that higher interest rates are beginning to bite, with this fall in demand for mortgages suggesting a slowdown in the housing market.
Wednesday, 2 May 2007
According to a new survey by the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA), the average time taken to sell a house is 16 weeks, from instruction to completion. This average of 16 weeks hides vast differences across the country. In London, property tends to sell far quicker, where there is a shortage of property for sale. However, a significant number of vendors are taking longer to sell their properties, with 13 per cent of sales taking between 3 and 4 months to complete. The NAEA statistics also report that almost 9% of sales fell through in November 2006.
If you need to sell your house quickly, and want to avoid the chance of your sale falling through, call Quick Move Now.
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