The number of mortgages approved for people buying a home jumped to its highest level for more than two years during December, figures have shown.
A total of 45,897 loans were approved for house purchase during the month, double the number seen 12 months earlier and the highest figure since September 2007, according to the British Bankers' Association.
In a further sign that the housing market is continuing to recover, total mortgage advances rose by 6% during the month to reach £10.2 billion, a level last seen in November 2008. The group credited the jump, which came during a month when the mortgage market traditionally slows down, on people rushing to complete house purchases before the Government's stamp duty holiday on properties costing up to £175,000 ended at the beginning of this year. Source: Press Association
Wednesday 27 January 2010
Monday 25 January 2010
Besley Hill predicts House Prices will RISE
Besley Hill, Bristol and Gloucestershire's largest group of independent estate agents, is predicting an upturn in the local housing market during 2010.
The group’s managing director, Adam Offer, believes that house prices will rise steadily over the year, possibly by as much as 10%. Besley Hill’s 16 offices experienced price rises of a little under this figure in most areas of Bristol and South Gloucestershire last year compared with the same period in 2008.
Adam is confident that this trend will continue due to a number of factors. These include:
• shortage of property coming to the market
• lack of new homes
• stable employment in the area
• many people having greater disposable income than a year ago
• improving mortgage lending (strongly evident since June 2009)
• low base rates (likely to be in place for much of 2010).
“All these factors will lead to demand for homes outstripping supply which inevitably will lead to price increases," says Adam. In the medium-to-long-term, Adam anticipates an increase in demand for all homes built up to the mid/late 1990s. “These homes are better laid out and have more space surrounding them and better parking,” he explains. “Homes built in the later 1990s up to date suffer from poor external layout, parking issues, tiny gardens and poor-size accommodation. “This will restrict demand and prices consumers are willing to pay for these homes.”
Adam lists a number of measures that he believes would help to kick-start the housing market. These are:
HIPs: “Scrap them or give them teeth to make them actually mean something.”
FIRST-TIME BUYERS: “The Government should introduce tax relief for FTBs (similar to the old MIRAS abolished in the late 1980s) and lenders could offer 50-year mortgage terms for FTBs,”
MORTGAGES: “The Government need to put pressure on public-owned lenders to lend at a high loan-to-value (LTV).”
STAMP DUTY: “Abolish Stamp Duty or at least increase the threshold to a more meaningful level.”
“Irrespective of whether these incentives occur, after seeing a rise of nearly 20% in transaction level within the Besley Hill group in 2009, compared to 2008, I expect this rise to be mirrored this year as further confidence returns to the UK housing market,” adds Adam Offer.
The group’s managing director, Adam Offer, believes that house prices will rise steadily over the year, possibly by as much as 10%. Besley Hill’s 16 offices experienced price rises of a little under this figure in most areas of Bristol and South Gloucestershire last year compared with the same period in 2008.
Adam is confident that this trend will continue due to a number of factors. These include:
• shortage of property coming to the market
• lack of new homes
• stable employment in the area
• many people having greater disposable income than a year ago
• improving mortgage lending (strongly evident since June 2009)
• low base rates (likely to be in place for much of 2010).
“All these factors will lead to demand for homes outstripping supply which inevitably will lead to price increases," says Adam. In the medium-to-long-term, Adam anticipates an increase in demand for all homes built up to the mid/late 1990s. “These homes are better laid out and have more space surrounding them and better parking,” he explains. “Homes built in the later 1990s up to date suffer from poor external layout, parking issues, tiny gardens and poor-size accommodation. “This will restrict demand and prices consumers are willing to pay for these homes.”
Adam lists a number of measures that he believes would help to kick-start the housing market. These are:
HIPs: “Scrap them or give them teeth to make them actually mean something.”
FIRST-TIME BUYERS: “The Government should introduce tax relief for FTBs (similar to the old MIRAS abolished in the late 1980s) and lenders could offer 50-year mortgage terms for FTBs,”
MORTGAGES: “The Government need to put pressure on public-owned lenders to lend at a high loan-to-value (LTV).”
STAMP DUTY: “Abolish Stamp Duty or at least increase the threshold to a more meaningful level.”
“Irrespective of whether these incentives occur, after seeing a rise of nearly 20% in transaction level within the Besley Hill group in 2009, compared to 2008, I expect this rise to be mirrored this year as further confidence returns to the UK housing market,” adds Adam Offer.
Tuesday 12 January 2010
House prices up on a year ago
House prices in the UK were up 1.1% in December compared to a year ago - the first annual rise since March 2008, according to boffins at the Halifax.
Prices rose by 1% in December compared with the previous month, marking the sixth consecutive monthly rise. The people at Halifax said the average home was now worth £169,042. However, the group thinks that property values will be flat in 2010 owing to the economic outlook - however here at Besley Hill we think prices could rise in the year due to the acute shortage of property coming to the market, increased demand and more relaxed lending.
The figures show that prices have picked up steadily in recent months, having risen by 9.4% - or £14,552 - from the trough of April 2009. This increase was driven, in part, by a shortage of the number of properties being put on the market. If potential sellers decided to put their homes on the market this would flatten any future pick-up but we feel this is very unlikely. The change in average prices for the specific month shows that the typical price in December 2009 was £169,042, compared with £160,070 in December 2008 - a 5.6% rise. In its house price index published last week, the Nationwide said that house prices had risen by 5.9% in 2009, with the average home worth £162,103. The UK's largest building society has also predicted that prices will show little change in 2010. Both the Halifax and Nationwide said unemployment figures had not been as bad as had been expected in 2009, which had helped demand for homes. The Halifax survey showed that prices were 3.5% higher in the final quarter of the year compared with the last three months of 2008.
All in all no one really knows what will happen in 2010 but at Besley Hill we are very optimistic that values and demand will improve this year as a result of relaxed lending, increased demand and restricted supply. Your views are welcome - why not e-mail me; adam@besleyhill.co.uk
Prices rose by 1% in December compared with the previous month, marking the sixth consecutive monthly rise. The people at Halifax said the average home was now worth £169,042. However, the group thinks that property values will be flat in 2010 owing to the economic outlook - however here at Besley Hill we think prices could rise in the year due to the acute shortage of property coming to the market, increased demand and more relaxed lending.
The figures show that prices have picked up steadily in recent months, having risen by 9.4% - or £14,552 - from the trough of April 2009. This increase was driven, in part, by a shortage of the number of properties being put on the market. If potential sellers decided to put their homes on the market this would flatten any future pick-up but we feel this is very unlikely. The change in average prices for the specific month shows that the typical price in December 2009 was £169,042, compared with £160,070 in December 2008 - a 5.6% rise. In its house price index published last week, the Nationwide said that house prices had risen by 5.9% in 2009, with the average home worth £162,103. The UK's largest building society has also predicted that prices will show little change in 2010. Both the Halifax and Nationwide said unemployment figures had not been as bad as had been expected in 2009, which had helped demand for homes. The Halifax survey showed that prices were 3.5% higher in the final quarter of the year compared with the last three months of 2008.
All in all no one really knows what will happen in 2010 but at Besley Hill we are very optimistic that values and demand will improve this year as a result of relaxed lending, increased demand and restricted supply. Your views are welcome - why not e-mail me; adam@besleyhill.co.uk
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