News Tag: Property News
October 20, 2009
Property Portfolio Rescue (PPR) has published its latest UK distress index, showing a surge in the number of distressed home sellers in major cities in the Midlands and the North.
In the three months to the end of September, the index rose by 60% in these regions, compared with the same period of 2008.
According to the residential landlord, enquiries from ...
Distressed sales surge in Midlands and the North
by Gill Montia
October 19, 2009
Home movers in London have put the credit crisis behind them and are asking 0.8% more for their properties than in November 2007.
In its October round up of market, Rightmove has reported that the Capital is leading the way in positive sentiment for the UK housing market.
October has also seen the national average asking price at a higher level than a ...
London leads recovery in asking prices
by Gill Montia
September 17, 2009
Nearly half of UK consumers believe that buying property is the best way to invest money.
In a study by Scottish Widows, 48% of those polled said investing in property is the best way to maximise returns on hard earned cash.
This figure is a significant increase on 12 months ago, when just 28% of those surveyed cited property as the best choice ...
Brits back property as best investment
by David Masters
June 26, 2009
The Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) claims that lenders are increasingly threatening customers in England and Wales with charging orders, in attempts to intimidate debtors into making unaffordable repayments.
A charging order is a means of securing an unsecured loan against equity in the debtor's property.
In a new report entitled "Out of order" the charity says evidence from ...
Charging Orders - the latest threat to indebted homeowners
by Gill Montia
May 15, 2009
Female investors prefer to put their money in property rather than a savings account.
A survey by the National Landlord's Association (NLA) found that 74% of the 500 female property investors polled believe bricks and mortar offers a better return than putting their money in a bank.
Seventy percent said they plan to expand their property portfolio in the next year, whilst more ...
Women investors prefer property to saving
by David Masters
March 30, 2009
Brits would rather invest money in property or stocks and shares than keep it as cash, despite 12 months of falling house prices and a volatile stock market.
Research by the Motley Fool found that 30% of UK adults would invest a £50,000 windfall in property.
A quarter (26%) would choose shares, whilst 17% would opt for bonds.
Fifteen percent said gold ...
Investors choose property as cash becomes a ‘liability’
by David Masters
January 7, 2009
Upmarket estate agent, Knight Frank, has reported that owners of prime country houses are becoming more realistic when it comes to selling.
Prices for prime country residences fell by an average 16% during 2008 but the decline accelerated in the last three months of the year, when values plummeted by 9%.
City job losses in the fall out from the ...
Prime country houses catch up with market downturn
by Gill Montia
January 6, 2009
The latest house price figures from the Nationwide show the average cost of a UK home falling by an annual 15.9%, in December.
During the month values took another 2.5% dip, taking the average cost of a property down to £153,048, or £29,000 less than a year earlier.
According to the building society's index, prices have now fallen for 14 consecutive months ...
Nationwide house price index down 15.9%
by Gill Montia
December 18, 2008
The Building Societies Association (BSA) has published the results of its latest Property Tracker survey, which indicate that more people believe that now is a good time to buy a home.
Forty-six per cent of those surveyed were, to some extent, positive about making a purchase, compared with 34% in September and 27% in July.
Fifteen per cent strongly disagreed with ...
BSA survey reveals shift in housing market sentiment
by Gill Montia
December 10, 2008
Estate agency network, Countrywide, is mounting and three day end-of-year property sale, from tomorrow (Thursday).
According to a report in The Times, around 7,500 vendors across the UK are taking part, offering properties worth a collective £1.65 billion.
Some homeowners have cut prices by up to 30% while others, who have already made reductions, are shaving much less off asking prices.
Countrywide's 1,000 strong ...
Countrywide mounts end-of-year property sale
by Gill Montia
November 4, 2008
Investment firm, Alliance Trust, has revealed that the property market downturn has shaken homeowners' confidence in funding part of their retirement by cashing in on the family home.
According to recent research by the company, only 33% of Britons list property investment among their top three methods of pension savings. The proportion compares with 43% a year ago.
Correspondingly, the number ...
Britons review faith in property to fund retirement
by Gill Montia
October 23, 2008
Rightmove is cutting staff numbers by 20% and making 60 people redundant.
The property website, which advertises around 90% of homes for sale in the UK, has seen sales plummet and is now joining High Street estate agents in laying-off staff.
The company says that while these are the first redundancies it has made as a result of the downturn in the ...
Rightmove cuts staff as vendors overvalue homes
by Gill Montia
October 20, 2008
The downturn in the property market is forcing 60,000 homeowners a month into negative equity.
According to the credit rating agency, Standard & Poor's, research suggests that 335,000 homes will be worth less than their mortgages by the end of October, a rise of 260,000 over four months.
If the trend continues, the number of homes with mortgages above their value ...
60,000 homeowners a month enter negative equity
by Gill Montia
October 13, 2008
Average property prices in some of the UK's city centres are showing sharp falls as a result of the plummeting values of flats and apartments.
According to research by property price website, mouseprice.com, the value of city centre flats in Birmingham have fallen more steeply than anywhere else in the UK.
Some areas of the city have seen prices decline ...
Birmingham blighted by fall in city centre flat prices
by Gill Montia
September 29, 2008
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) has reported that the average selling price of a UK home is now 9% below the asking price.
Rics chief economist, Simon Rubinsohn, warns that the gap could widen in the coming months as vendors are forced to accept lower offers in a shrinking market.
Figures from leading mortgage lenders show the average price of ...
Widening gap between asking and selling prices
by Gill Montia
September 22, 2008
Rightmove has reported a 1% fall in the asking price of the average home in the month to 13th September.
The decline is below the 2.3% recorded by the property website in August but puts the average asking price at £227,438 or £14,204 less than a year ago.
The firm has also noted a slight decline in the number of ...
Average asking price of a home down £14,200
by Gill Montia
September 5, 2008
Property search engine, Globrix, has reported that the majority of homes for sale in the UK have now been on the market for over 90 days.
The company's research has revealed that the proportion of properties unsold after 90 days has risen from 25% at the beginning of the year, to 53% in August.
The trend is likely to continue as ...
For sale for three months and more
by Gill Montia
September 2, 2008
New regulations aimed at preventing inflated property valuations have come into force this week.
The measures are aimed at protecting mortgage lenders who have in the past become the victim of deliberately inflated valuations.
In the case of new build city centre flats and apartments, prices have plummeted in the past year because of a combination of oversupply and fraudulent mortgage applications backed ...
New regulations for property valuations
by Gill Montia
August 27, 2008
The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) is demanding a review of Home Information Packs (Hips) because the slowdown in the housing market means that some of the packs are out of date before a property is sold.
The packs were intended to simplify and speed up the house selling process but the majority of estate agents opposed ...
Slow house sales put Hip searches out of date
by Gill Montia
