Quick Move Blog
Friday, 31 July 2009
The Nationwide this morning reported that house prices rose by 1.3% in July, the 3rd month in a row that prices have risen. Since the start of the year, house prices have now actually risen by 1.3%. Nationwide now expect prices to rise over 2009 as a whole.
Average prices are now 6.2% lower than a year ago, up from the 9.3% decline from last month. February showed the lowest point of decline in Nationwide figures, with prices down by 17.6% annually.
Nationwide commented that prices have been 'remarkably resilient' despite the recession, but warned that the current strong run may be unsustainable with rising rising unemployment.
Mortgage approvals were up in June, for the 5th month in a row. In June there were 47,584 mortgages for houses purchases, the highest number since April 2008.
Chris Skinner of Balatro, said that demand is still relatively flat as people still don't believe that the housing market has yet reached the bottom. He also said that house buying chains were being broken as a result.
There are also signs that banks are starting to make mortgages more accessible again, particularly with Northern Rock and other now state owned banks being encouraged to increase lending.
Building societies continued to see net withdrawals of funds, with £2.2bn more being withdrawn than being deposited in June, as refleciton of continuing low interest rates.
For the first time in 2009, house prices have risen over the previous month, according to Land Registry figures.
The rise was minimal - just 0.1% compared with May, but commentators seent his as a sign that prices are flattening out from their recent lows.
Monday, 20 July 2009
Mortgage lending in June was up sharply on the previous month, with a total £12.3bn in lending, up from £10.5bn. Commentators have put the rise down to a seasonal increase and point to lending still being 48% lower than Jun 2008.
Lending over the past 3 months has been the same as the previous quarter, whch was at its lowest level since 2001.
Tuesday, 14 July 2009
The latest report from RICS shows the number of new buyer enquiries growing at the fastest pace since records began 10 years ago.
The strongest increases were in London & the North, followed by the East & West Midlands.
This increase in buyer enquiries comes as the number of properties for sale falls, being 32% lower than a year ago, meaning that with a shortage of available properties, prices are likely to rise.
Despite buyer enquiries, transactions are still held back by lack of available mortgage funding.
Wednesday, 8 July 2009
According to the Halifax, house prices fell by just 0.5% in June. In the 3 months to the end of June, house prices fell by 1.9%, the lowest quarterly fall in the first quarter of 2008. The Halifax claims that this provides evidence of confidence returning to the housing market and that the underlying rate of house price falls is easing.
The fall in June meant the annual rate of decline was 15%, down from 16.3% in May.
The Halifax figures contrast with Nationwide, which showed prices rising by 0.9% in June, the third increase in 4 months.
Friday, 3 July 2009
Mortgage holders repaid a record amount of their mortgages in the first quarter of 2009. The total in the first three months was £8.1bn, taking repayments to £76bn for the year to end of March 09.
The credit crunch and low savings rates are obviously encouranging people to start paying down their mortgages. It also reflected the larger deposits required by lenders for mortgages.
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