Direct Property News

When it comes to politics and regulations and their influence on the overall economy and property market, the devil is, as per usual, in the detail. Whilst we are not trying to cover every comment, bulletpoint or improvement Mr Hammond has made in his first statement, one week on we wanted to have a closer look at what all of this means for the country’s property market. London’s new housing fund Housing and London have always had a very impressive “love hate relationship”. Wages across the City vary so widely and property is in such great demand that the Government’s announcement to put aside £3.15bn to build 90,000 new homes in London has been greatly celebrated. […]

With the end of the year on the horizon, home services marketplace Plentific has released it’s 2016 Property Price Index. This gives an overview of how Britain’s house prices have performed during the last 12 months and has revealed some surprising results. Property price rises The study has indicated the top ten best and worst performing regions in terms of property price fluctuations. Aylesbury led the way, with the average price of a home rising by an eye-watering 21.5% over the course of the year. It appears that prices in new commuters hotspots have risen substantially, with Aylesbury thriving as a result. In fact, the top-ten is dominated by regions in London and the South East. […]

The latest lending data from the Bank of England suggests that the home mortgage market is recovering with approved loans for properties up 6% in October compared to the previous month. It suggests that the recovery in buyer demand is underway after a slowdown caused by the run up to the referendum on the European Union and the actual vote to leave with 67,518 mortgage approved.

Mortgages for UK property are now more affordable than they have ever been before, the Council of Mortgage Lenders has revealed. Recently released figures for September show the average homeowner, first-time buyers not included, spent 17.7% of their monthly income on repaying their mortgage. This represents a decrease from 23.7% in 2009 when interest rates were a lot higher and should give a lot more people the opportunity to make the first steps onto the property ladder.

Property prices in key UK cities are continuing to rise, up 8.4% year on year and 2.3% quarter on quarter but the growth is slowing, according to the latest index. The annual growth is led by Bristol where prices have increased by 10.6% to £259,400 in the 12 months of October 2016 but at the opposite end prices are down 8.1% in Aberdeen although it should be remembered that the city’s housing market has been affected by the fall in oil prices.

Sales to first time buyers in the UK have increased strongly to their highest level since in 16 years, according to data from estate agents, suggesting the housing market is buoyant. Some 32% of total sales made in October were to first time buyers, up 9% from the previous month and the highest since the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) began recording them in 2000. The last time the number of sales to first time buyers was at a similar level was in October last year when 31% of sales were made to people buying their first home. Overall, the number of sales agreed stayed the same in October, at an average of nine per […]