Quick Move Blog
Tuesday, 29 September 2009
During the last 2 years house prices have never been far from the headlines.
After a couple of month’s positive growth many are speculating that we are witnessing a recovery. However house prices always fluctuate and no real conclusions can be drawn from monthly fluctuations.
Although every boom and bust cycle is different certain lessons and conclusions can be drawn from previous cycles.
As can been seen from the chart, during the slump of the early 90’s monthly house price growth fluctuated wildly over the period, especially after the original slump.
After the initial prolonged negative growth, monthly price increases were relatively common. However the long-term trend was still downward for several years.
In the current economic climate it is very unlikely that we will return to a market with constantly inflating house prices and there a number of reasons for this:
- Unemployment is expected to rise in the short/mid term. This uncertainty may deter many potential home buyers, stifling demand.
- Interest rates will eventually have to rise, making mortgage lending more expensive. This will put added pressure on home owners already struggling and make it even hard for potential home buyers to get on the ladder.
- Mortgage lending. Much previous demand was driven by the availability of cheap, unregulated credit. With banks trying to recoup losses, margins will be increased which will impact mortgage affordability, especially if interest rates increase. Lending will also only be made available to the minority of home buyers who have large deposits, secure assets and good credit history. This attitude to risk is likely to continue for mid to long term.
- Government and Bank of England now appreciate how dangerous unchecked and unregulated credit provision and in turn house prices can be. They will work hard to keep house price inflation in check in future.
With market conditions remaining very difficult many people may struggle to sell a house. For those who need a fast, certain and hassle free house sale the options are unfortunately limited. However, Quick Move Now are the UK’s leading house buying company and are able to assist those needing a quick, cash house sale. Call us today on 0800 036 3366.
Monday, 28 September 2009
House prices fell for the first time in four months last month as the traditionally quiet summer took some heat out of the market, official figures showed today.
The Land Registry said the data for the month showed a "fairly flat market" with prices down 0.1% on July's figures. The drop followed a 1.8% rise in July and reduced the average price of a home in England and Wales in £155,968.
But the annual rate at which house prices are falling continued to slow, easing to 9.4% – the lowest figure since last September and down from a high of 16.3% in February.
These figures give weight to the idea that there may not be a steady growth curve out of the recession, but may be a series of peaks and troughs, resulting in an eventual good economic climate.
Friday, 25 September 2009
The house buying process in the UK is actually quite drawn out and complicated - hence the oft quoted statistic of moving house being one of the most stressful times in a person's life. The actual process involves dealing with a variety of organisations and people, including: estate agents, solicitors, banks/building societies and the people who are actually selling the house. The process usually takes the following form:
1. Decide how much you have to spend. This is calculated by how much equity you have in your current property (obviously none if you are a first time buyer), and the amount of savings you have to put forward towards a deposit. You then need to see how much salary you earn, in order to get a mortgage. Banks normally give up to 4 times the income of a household. So, for example, if you have a 50k deposit (made up from savings, equity or help from parents) and earn 30k a year you can afford a £170k house.
2. The next stage is to arrange for your mortgage offer in principle. This is when the lender does a quick assessment of you (a credit check) and makes an in principle agreement to lend you x amount.
3. Once you've decided your budget, it's time to think about where you want to live, and what sort of house you want. Do want a quiet area, or the busy city life? House or flat? Garden or not?
4. Once you know the sort of house you want, have a look on www.rightmove.co.uk, which is the premier property website in the UK. Most properties that are for sale in the UK are listed on the site. Once you've found one that fits your requirements, call the related estate agents and arrange a viewing.
5. If you like the look of the house you've seen, then contact the estate agents and make an offer. It’s up to you if you offer the asking price; it depends how much you want the house. If you really want the house, then offer the asking price. If you're really stretching your budget, then offer a few thousand below the asking price, and see how the sellers respond. Be prepared to negotiate.
6. If you're lucky to have your offer accepted, you can move on the next stage, which is paying the fee to the estate agents to secure the property, and have it taken off the market.
7. Buyers should then go to their chosen lender to arrange the mortgage. Various forms must be filled out, and arrangements made to set up a direct debit to be set up to withdraw the mortgage amount from your bank account every month. The lender will charge you to do a valuation of the property to ensure that they would be able to recoup their money if they were forced to repossess and sell the property.
8. You should appoint a solicitor at this stage, who will carry out what is called conveyancing. These are all the legal duties that need to bee carried out in order for the house purchase to go through. These duties include: drawing up the contract that will be exchanged with the seller; making sure there are no planning permission or local development issues regarding the property and register the owner details of the property with the Land Registry.
9. Home insurance will need to be arranged for the home purchase to go through.
10. Once all the legal issue have been dealt with, contracts are exchanged.
11. The final stage of the process is called completion. This is where the funds are transferred from the buyer to the seller, and you legally own the house. You would then take possession of the keys and move in. Hooray!
The process from start to finish normally takes about 12 weeks, which is twice as long as in Europe. If you are selling your house as well as purchasing, it's normally considered good advice to sell your house first, which saves a lot of hassle.
If you can't wait 12 weeks and need to sell quicker, and also want to avoid the chance of your sale falling through, contact Quick Move Now. As a cash buyer of properties, using our own cash, we could buy your house with 7 days. We give guaranteed offers that mean your sale is guaranteed avoiding the pain of a chain break or of a buyer pulling out at the last minute. Call us today on 0800 068 3366.
Tuesday, 22 September 2009
For those people looking for a quick house sale, August was not a good month, with the a fall in the total number of house sales for the first month this year.
HMRC figures show that 83,000 properties were sold in August, down from 87,000 in July. Some commentators has forecast that the small recovery the housing market has shown could run out of steam, which will frustrate those people wanting to sell their houses but who can't find a buyter, with the mortgage market remaining subdued.
If you need to sell your house quicky, but are struggling to find a buyer, then call quickmovenow.com on 0800 068 3366 - we may be able to help you!
Tuesday, 15 September 2009
Here at Quickmovenow, we're often asked the question, 'What type of property do you buy?'. Well the answer is that we mainly focus on houses - yes that's quite a broad characterisation, but it reflects our purchasing decisions: we are interested in detached houses, semi detached, linked detached, terraced, barn conversions, mews houses, old and new, even bungalows - in fact anything that we see as a good investment.
Flats are a little more tricky for us, but if you do need a quick sale on your flat, give us a call and we may be able to help you.
We look at many factors when valuing a property and making an offfer, from location and condition to number of bedrooms and age. We will normally offer up to 90% of the property's value, which still gives you an excellent return on your sale - remember, you're not paying estate agent fees and do not need to spend money on a HIP to sell to quickmovenow.
When you are in need of a fast sale of your house, for whatever reason, call Quick Move Now. We are the UK's leading quick house buying company, and we pride ourselves on our professional service and our ethical business practices.
Give us a call today or visit our website at http://www.quickmovenow.com for a Free estimate of your property's value.
If you do a search for "Estate agents in Swindon" in Google, you will see that there are many companies that are willing to sell your house, or find you one to buy in Swindon. These estate agents are a vital part of the property landscape, and act as middlemen, bringing home buyers and sellers together.
One thing that most of these estate agents do not do is offer the facilty of buying your house from you, if you are looking for a quick house sale. Quick Move Now, one of the UK's leading house buying companies, will do this for you; we pay up to 90% of your home' value, and can turn around in as little as a week.
Quick Move Now is based just outside Swindon, in Wootton Bassett.
Monday, 14 September 2009
Economists are warning that the recent rise in house prices could be a 'false dawn' forecasting that prices will fall by 1.6% in the first half of 2010.
The Ernst & Young ITEM Club predicts that the shortage of property for sale is driving up prices and the shortage of buyers with large deposits means that there is a lack of support for higher prices.
According to the ITEM Club, a small number of cah rich buyers has supported prices, but once their funds are depleted, prices are likely to dip again.
ITEM forecasts a fall in prices this year of 11.4% and that it wil take 5 years before they again reach the level of prices in 2007.
There was a 19% increase in Mortgage lending in July on the previous July's figures, the first significant rise since 2007. The figures were up 24% on June 09.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders called the increase 'significant' but also warned against reading too much into just one month's figures.
First time buyer numbers increased by 18% on June's numbers - the 6th consecutive increase. Average deposits for first-time buyers was 25%
Thursday, 10 September 2009
House prices rose by 0.8% in August, according to the Halifax.
This is the 2nd monthly rise in a row that Halifax has reported. However, prices were still 10.1% lower in the 3 months to August compared with the same time last year.
According to the Halifax, better affordability and low interest rates are driving an increased demand for housing, coupled with a lack of supply.
And a note of caution: housing market activity though is still less than half of what it was in 2007.
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