D_Property

Property prices in England and Wales were static in April, up just 0.1% compared to the previous month to an average of £301,606, the latest index shows. This is the second month in a row that prices have remained more or less unchanged, according to the Your Move index and comes at a time when interest rates remain at a record low. Year on year average prices are still up, some 3.5% higher than they were in April 2016, the data also shows and the market in London is subdued with prices down 0.1% month on month and sales down a fifth in two years. The West Midlands saw the biggest growth with prices up 0.5% […]

Home lenders in the UK are being urged to move into the 21st century and end the practice of insisting on original copies of bills and statements and instead accept digital versions. The current mortgage application process is described as old fashioned and outdated as well as being a barrier to people getting on the property ladder. Those applying for a mortgage needs to provide proof of identity in the form of bank statements and utility bills but research has found that the majority now use paperless accounts, especially younger people buying their first home. Some 69% of consumers receive paperless bank statements while 46% receive paperless credit card statements, according to the research from data […]

The latest research from Countrywide has founs that there has been an increase in London based investors purchasing buy-to-let homes outside the capital. According to the report, the proportion of investors from the capital buying outside of London reached 50% in 2017 compared with 19% in 2011. Last year, London investors bought over 22,000 (22,296), homes outside the capital up from 3,311 in 2010 when the Countrywide Lettings Index began. This is more than the number of homes sold in Manchester and Birmingham combined last year (21,951). A record proportion of London investors are looking North in search of higher yields and lower stamp duty costs. The East has the highest proportion of London landlords overall […]

House price growth near improved transport networks in cities in the UK, particularly trams, is higher than properties further afield, new research has found. Edinburgh, Manchester, Nottingham and Birmingham have all seen the effect with properties near new tram and stops seeing prices up by an average of 12% in the first two years of the lines opening. The research from Lloyds Bank also shows that house prices along the new Elizabeth Line crossing London from Reading in the West to Shenfield in the East, are up by 22% over the last two years, even although it will not be fully open until 2019. The average house price along the Greater Manchester tram routes grew by […]

There was a substantial rise in the number of home-buyers using cash in order to purchase property in the last year. In fact, according to the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA), mortgage lending made its smallest contribution to the financing of property acquisitions since well before the recession. Falls The overall percentage of mortgage funds used by buyers fell to 58.2% in the last year- substantially lower than the 76% recorded in 2006. In addition, this was lower than the 65% seen at the onset of the recession in 2008. This means that the percentage of money spent on residential property in 2016 hit a post-recession high of 41.8%-up from 40.1% one year ago. In total, […]

The vast majority of home owners in England and Wales are confident that property prices will continue to rise in the next six months but fewer are planning to buy or sell. Overall 87% are confident of property price growth, according to the latest housing market sentiment survey from property portal Zoopla, up 4% since October 2016, but below the 92% recorded at this time last year. The data also shows that just 18% of home owners are intending to buy a property in the next six months, down 7% since October 2016, and only 17% plan to sell, a fall of 6%. Regionally, home owners in the East are the most confident about their local […]