Quick Move Blog
Monday, 22 December 2008
A report from Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) says that house prices in the UK will take a decade to recover from their 2007 peak.
LGIM forecasts that prices will fall by a further 10%-15% in 2009, before stagnating for the following 4 to 5 years, as incomes catch up with house prices. The forecasted fall in prices is 30% from the 2007 peak. LGIM says the recovery will take longer because of the changes taking place in banks' lending practices with banking lending less of a property's value than in the past.
Monday, 15 December 2008
More gloomy predictions for house prices today with the boss of Barclays Bank forecasting that house prices with fall a further 15% next year.
According to John Varley, the UK is just halfway through the house price slump, predicting that prices will fall by a total of 30%. He admitted that the banks were partly to blame for the current recession condeming approval of 100% + mortgages.
These comments are unlikely to help the housing market, with first time buyers likely to stay away from the market if prices are going to fall further.
The average home in Britain has already dropped £36,000 in value since August last year, according to the country's biggest lenders Halifax. Its latest figures show the average value is now just £163,605. A further 15 per cent fall would see the average value of a home crash by an additional £25,000 to less than £140,000 based on these figures.
Home sellers have been forced to lower their asking prices dramatically in the past month to achieve a sale. Around £5,000 was knocked off the average price of a home in the past month, according to property website Rightmove.
Rightmove forecasts that house prices will fall an extra 10 per cent by the end of next year.
However, its survey also suggested that the sale prices actually being achieved by estate agents is already down 25 per cent since May.
Wednesday, 10 December 2008
Repossessions have been increasing rapidly and this is now being reflected in auction houses.
Many auctioneers are doubling or tripling the number of auctions held as they try and keep up with the number of repossessions being offered.
For example Allsops Auctioneers have already had 14 residential auctions this year offering a total of 6,124 lots compared to just 8 auctions and 2,739 lots in same period last year (EIG Group).
With hundreds of lots available auctions have become hugely competitive. Sellers need to place lower and lower guide prices and reserves to encourage interest and to guarantee a sale.
Lenders often put hundreds of properties into an individual auction and they need them to sell. So many properties have very low reserves to ensure a sale. The eventual sale may therefore not reflect either the true value of the property or the best interests of the former owner.
As repossessions continue to increase it is going to be boom time for auctioneers. With huge numbers of homes available and limited buyers, the old laws of supply and demand will force prices down even further.
So is the auction route a good option in this market? Well if you undercut the market with a low reserve you will sell. But will you maximise value? This is not a question the lenders are worried about as they try and shift high volumes of repo’s but that is another story…
If you need to sell your home there are other options that should be investigated, and this is where Quick Move Now could help.
Tuesday, 9 December 2008
With the current dire state of the housing market the last thing we thought the Government would do is to impose yet more burdens on house sellers. Yesterday it announced that from next April, HIPs will need to be in place on the day that a house is put up for sale, rather than within the current 28 days. On top of this, sellers will be required to complete a 6 page Property Information Questionnaire.
As we have argued before (HIPs need re-thinking), what started off as a way to improve the house sale process in has ended up increasing red tape, delays and costs for those looking to sell their houses. We call again for the Government to review the whole Home Information Pack system.
RICS has reported that house sales were down again last month, to their lowest level since their survey started in 1978.
The number of sales per estate agent fell to 10.6 in November from 10.9 in October. The lowest number of sales was in London, followed by Wales adn East Anglia. The slump in sales has continued to push prices downwards, with 76.5% more estate agents reporting falling prices than rising.
House sales have slumped by more than 50% this year. If you need to sell your house but can't find a buyer, then call quickmovenow.com. In the current market with falling house prices, the longer it takes to sell your house, the more money you will lose, so secure a quick house sale with quickmovenow.com. We can offer a guaranteed price within 7 days. Click for a free estimate.
Friday, 5 December 2008
The importance of a quick house sale is illustrated in figures released from Globrix that shows the average price of unsold houses fell by £22,061 in the last week alone, where reductions were made.
This means that 3,293 unsold homes saw an average 7% fall in their 'for sale' price.
According to Globrix, sellers are now becoming more realistic about asking prices, realising that if they don't cut the asking price, there houses will not sell.
Other figures from Globrix suggest that the property market is stagnating further, with 23% of properties still for sale after 6 months.
Both the length of time a sale is taking and the fall in asking prices is a graphic illustration of why many people are turning to quickmovenow.com to achieve a quick house sale. By using quickmovenow.com, you can sell your house within 7 days, you can sell with certainty - we use our own money to purchase houses so your sale will not fall through at the last moment because of funding issues. Also, the sooner you sell, the less you will lose through falling houses prices and the sooner you can move on to your new home.
For more details and a free estimate, visit quickmovenow.com.
As the recession bites the number of people struggling with mortgage repayments and facing repossession is expected to surge.
Being repossessed is a massive emotional strain and the financial scars can last for years. Unfortunately in current market conditions more individuals, families and investors are likely to have a run in with the repo man
With house prices continuing to fall many more households will enter negative equity. It is widely expected that number of homes worth less than the mortgage secured on them will top the 1.8 million seen during the last slowdown of late 80/90’s.
As long as these home owners can maintain their mortgage repayments and don’t need to move there is no immediate issue. However if employment/circumstances change and they can’t keep up repayments, the options to sell are very limited and repossession is a real risk.
We have already seen the volume of repossessions increase this year. According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders s in 2003/04 fewer than 9,000 properties a year were repossessed. In the first 9 months of 2008 there have already been over 30,000 repossessions.
So what does the future hold? Well in 2003 only 99,500 households were in arrears on their mortgage. During 2008 the number in arrears has increased to over 168,000! Many of these people will not recover their finances and will be repossessed. And with looming job losses many more are expected to fall into arrears in coming months.
If you find yourself struggling with mortgage repayments firstly speak to your lender to see if more flexible repayment structure can be agreed. If this fails seek advice from an independent financial advisor or a body such as crisis or citizen’s advice.
If you fear your home could be repossessed, contact Quick Move Now or read our home repossession page - we could help you.
Thursday, 4 December 2008
According to the Halifax, house prices fell by another 2.6% in November, taking the annual fall to 14.9%. On these figures, the average house has lost £31,500 in value this year, with the average house now worth £163,605, a figure last seen in July 2005.
The monthly fall is the largest drop in value since Sept 1992.
The figures were worse than expected by analysts, signalling rapidly deteriorating economic conditions.
The Halifax figures suggest that the rate of house price falls is accelerating, with demand curbed by constraints on household spending, lack of mortgage availability and a continuing fall in prices leading to people postponing purchases.
In its latest forecast, the Council of Mortgage Lenders estimates that home repossessions will reach 75,000 next year, almost as many reposessions as in the peak of the recession of the early 90s.
This figure is yet to be finalised as the CML digests the announcement from the government yesterday of a deal with banks to delay repossessions.
Monday, 1 December 2008
Mortgage approvals fell again in October, equalling their lowest ever figure (August 2008) and down by 72% on their peak in 2007.
The new figures from the Bank of England show mortgage approvals down by 1,000 on September at just 32,000 - the same record low as August this year. Approvals have fallen from 88,000 last October and from their monthly peak of 114,000 in mid-2007.
Credit is still obviously tight for many people, and together with recession fears, rising unemployment, and expectations of house prices falls, is all helping to keep a downward pressure on the housing market and levels of activities.
According to Howard Archer, chief economist at IHS Global Insight, these figures show that house prices are likely to continue falling next year, despite the recent cuts in interest & mortgage rates.
UK house prices are expected to fall 15% in 2009.
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