The average age of a first time buyer in the UK has increased to 30 according to research by Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks. In the face of large mortgage deposits, a shortage of affordable housing and pressure on personal incomes, many potential house buyers have to wait longer before they can afford to take their [...]
Although more new houses were put up for sale in December, transactions were hampered by sellers asking too high a price for their properties, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). December saw the number of houses put up for sale increase for the third month in a row, especially in London where [...]
PSigma Investment Management’s chief investment officer, Thomas Becket, has added his voice to the growing criticism of the government’s mortgage indemnity scheme. According to Money News, Mr Becket claims that the scheme is doomed and that a return to 95 per cent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio mortgages will cause problems in the future. The scheme was [...]
HSBC claims to have launched the only mortgage with a rate of less than 4% for first-time buyers and has also promised to make a further £350m available to borrowers with smaller deposits by the end of the year. It latest mortgage offers a rate of 3.84% for two-years to borrowers with a deposit of [...]
Not so long ago houseowners could rely on the equity in their existing property, generated by its growing market value, to fund a move to a larger home, but new research from HSBC confirms that this is often no longer an option. The bank suggests that a fall in property prices means that first time [...]
Chancellor George Osborne has delivered his Budget speech today, what he has described as a “Budget for growth”. Firstly, Mr Osborne unveiled a scheme aimed at helping 10,000 first-time buyers purchase new-build flats and houses. The buyer would have to fund 5% of the cost, while the Government and home builder would both put up [...]
Connells Survey & Valuation has reported a surge as seller confidence in June, the first clear month in which Home Information Packs have been abolished. The nationwide property valuation service saw a 20% rise in valuations, compared with a year earlier, taking volumes in the second quarter of 2010 up 13% on the same period [...]
In its May affordability index, FindaProperty.com has reported that first-time buyer house prices have increased for the fourth consecutive month, taking the average asking price of a starter home to £155,677. The figure is 1.2% higher than a year ago and at its highest since February 2009. At the same time, affordability has improved for [...]
House purchase lending increased by 45% in March, marking the ninth consecutive month of year-on-year growth, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). Loans for house purchase were up 25% in volume (45,000) and 24% in value from February but for the first quarter of the year as a whole, there were 112,000 loans [...]
The UK property market experienced a seasonal bounce last month, with estate agents reporting more properties for sale alongside a rise in the number of house-hunters. According to the National Association of Estate agents (NAEA), the stock of homes for sale in March was at its highest for six months, and although first-time buyer interest [...]
The Commerce Department has today revealed a fall in sales of new homes in the US for the month of February. According to the Commerce Department, new single-family home sales fell by 2.2% on the month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 308,000 units – the lowest since records commenced in 1963. Meanwhile, the [...]
Buying a home has become a pipe dream for millions of young Britons, the National Housing Federation (NHF) claims. Research by the body, which represents England’s housing associations, suggests that 50% of those wanting to get a foot on the property ladder are preparing for at least a 10-year wait. The YouGov survey commissioned by [...]
Affordability for first-time buyers has continued to improve, according to FindaProperty.com. The website’s latest index suggests it is now easier for first-time buyers to get onto the property ladder than it has been at any time since the start of the credit crisis, in 2007. Stable prices and more borrower-friendly lending criteria are responsible for [...]
There were 49% fewer house purchase loans approved in January than in December, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has reported. According to the body, the steep decline “emphatically demonstrates” the impact of the end of the stamp duty holiday, in December. First-time buyers recorded the largest drop among house purchasers: in January, approvals were [...]
Latest UK house price statistics from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) show the value of a typical home up 2.9% in December, compared to a year earlier. The month saw a 0.8% increase on November, taking the average house price to £200,307 and completing a 2.9% gain for the final quarter of [...]
First-time buyer mortgage approvals hit a two-year high in December as those buying properties costing up to £175,000 rushed their purchases through before the end of the stamp duty holiday. According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), 24,900 first-time buyer loans were sanctioned worth £2.9 billion, leaving both figures up 26% on November. In [...]
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has today revealed a sharp fall in sales of previously owned homes in the US for the month of December. The industry body said sales fell 16.7% to an annual rate of 5.45 million units in December, down from 6.54 million the previous month. Analysts had expected a rate [...]
Potential first-time buyers on average earnings can now afford to buy a home in nearly four out of 10 regions of the UK, the Halifax has reported. According to the lender’s research, 39% of the UK’s local authority districts are accessible to those wanting to buy their first property, compared to 6% when the housing [...]
Yorkshire Building Society is responding to the end of the stamp duty holiday by increasing the cashback offer on its first-time buyer mortgages. From 1st January 2010 the threshold for the tax reverts to £125,000 (from the current £175,000) and to compensate, the lender is returning 1% of the total loan, rather than a set [...]
Potential first-time buyers who are dreading the end of the stamp duty holiday are being cheered on by moneysupermarket.com. The price comparison website has calculated that the number of mortgage products available to those keen to get a foot on the property ladder has risen to 1,354, up 18.3% on August’s low. The firm’s mortgages [...]
Gender directive could slash men’s annuity payouts
The EU Gender Directive, which came into force today, could see men losing up to £10,000 from their annuity payouts, according to research by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Under the new rules insurers are no longer allowed to take gender into account when setting annuity rates and premiums on insurance products. Men previously enjoyed higher annuity rates than [...]
Home rental costs down in November
The cost of renting a house in England and Wales fell by 0.4 per cent in November, its first dip since March, according to a survey by LSL Property Services. Average rent was £741m during the month, returning to the level seen in September. However, it was 3.4 per higher than in November last year. [...]
Lloyds TSB halts sale of packaged accounts in branches
Lloyds TSB will stop selling packaged account in its branches from 1 January 2013, until its sales procedures are brought into line with those operated by sister bank The Halifax. Lloyds TSB is one of the main providers of packaged accounts in Britain, with around one in three of its customers choosing to pay fees [...]
Housing market recovery to continue next year
Recent improvements in the housing market should continue into next year, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) Gross lending is estimated to have increased to £12.9 billion in November, helped by the Funding for Lending scheme which provides banks and building societies with lower-cost funding, which they are then supposed to pass on [...]
Newcastle Building Society exits interest-only mortgages
Newcastle Building Society has stopped offering interest-only mortgages to new borrowers, following the lead of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Nationwide, Co-operative bank and Coventry Building Society. The decision will not affect existing Newcastle customers and applications for interest-only mortgages received before 14 December will still be processed. Prior to the credit crunch, interest-only mortgages [...]
Less than half of Brits considered creditworthy
Fifty-seven per cent of UK adults are at risk of having an application for credit turned down by a mainstream lender according to a new report. The ‘Mind the Credit Gap‘ report commissioned by aqua credit cards suggests that even people with a good credit rating and earning more than £50,000 could have a credit [...]
Monthly incomes £22 lower in 2012
The average monthly income of UK households fell by £22 in real terms compared with last year, according to a survey carried out for the Bank of England (BoE) by NMG Consulting. People on lower incomes have seen their income eroded more than higher earners and households still have high levels of debt the BoE [...]
Savers dig deep to fund Christmas
New research from the Halifax suggests that savers are funding their Christmas spending with money set aside for other purposes. Thirty-seven per cent of 2,138 savers surveyed by the bank at the end of November had withdrawn savings in the last three months. The average amount withdrawn was £1,186, more than double the average savings [...]
Financial data at risk from unsafe passwords
According to a survey by the Payments Council the problem of having to remember a different password for several accounts means that many internet users are compromising the security of their financial data. Internet users have 22 password-protected accounts on average and many use the same log-in details for more than one account, even though [...]
Wonga launches Paylater loans on retailer website
Payday loan company Wonga has launched a new Paylater service on furniture firm Cotswold Company’s website. The service, which allows customers to “buy now, pay later” will be introduced on other retailers’ sites in the near future. Although the Paylater branding is similar to Wonga’s, the Wonga name only appears in the small print. A [...]
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