One in three consumers believes house prices will fall over the next year – but one in four believes they will go up.
According to a consumer confidence survey released by Rightmove this morning, the highest proportion of consumers (36%) think house prices will stay the same. Only 5% said they had no idea which direction prices will go in.
But the 32% of those who believe house prices will fall is a higher percentage than this time a year ago, when only one in ten believed house prices would drop.
The huge survey of 25,584 consumers took place in the first two weeks of this month.
The main reason cited by those believing that house price falls lie ahead was lack of confidence in the economy. But the main reason given by those believing that house prices will rise is confidence in the economy. Nearly a quarter of these optimists believe that the housing market is improving.
In contrast, 20% of the price pessimists believe that the housing market will worsen. The same proportion of pessimists also see little or no improvement in the mortgage market, whereas 12.4% of the optimists see mortgages as improving in terms of both rates and availability.
Miles Shipside, director of Rightmove, said: “If you saw such an even distribution in opinion after using an Ask the Audience, you’d probably follow very quickly by using your Phone a Friend. It’s unusual to see such a split, but it shows that current economic uncertainty is forcing people to take sides in their view of the housing market.”
(source:estateagenttoday.co.uk)
We are selling houses consistently and at reaonable prices. One of the main factor in our client's success is that they offer value for money in a market that has lots of supply. In every case their property is the best example of what can be found in the current market.
The other factor is that they chose amn agent who told them the truth and ensured that they did not languish in a no mans land of waiting to sell.
The sale of your home is too important to leave to chance. The correct pricing and marketing of your property is vital. This is not something that happens by accident. Rather it is the result of careful preparation and of constantly talking to buyers about what they want.
If you are serious about selling then we would love to talk with you as we have a constant demand for new property.
If you need a realistic strategy that will get you sold, call us on 023 92 602155 for a confidential chat without obligation.
Blog Archive
Tuesday, 26 October 2010
Tuesday, 19 October 2010
Bewilderment as asking prices for houses bounce
New asking prices on Rightmove have jumped an astonishing 3.1% over the last month, the site reported this morning.
The rise is in seeming defiance of market trends and will re-ignite the debate on valuations.
Rightmove said the “seemingly illogical” rise took “some explaining” and is unsupported by market fundamentals.
The 3.1% figure comes shortly after Halifax’s latest report, showing a 3.6% fall in the average prices of properties across the UK in September.
The average new asking price on Rightmove is now £236,849 – which is hugely disjointed from the Halifax’s figure of £162,096.
Whilst Nationwide reported a very slight (0.1%) rise in prices for September, its average national house price of £166,757 is not far adrift from Halifax.
The breath-taking rise in new asking prices on Rightmove comes after measuring the asking prices of 105,769 properties new to the market. In previous Octobers, asking prices have jumped 2%. The 3.1% rise equates to an average of over £7,000 in a month.
It appears to be the clearest sign yet of over-pricing.
In London, Rightmove said this morning that asking prices of properties new to the market have shot up by 5% in the last month.
But large numbers of houses in London are not selling, and prices are having to be cut. Ivor Dickinson, managing director of Douglas & Gordon, said his firm did 33% fewer transactions in September than a year ago and that asking prices are down by 10%. He said buyers should not be afraid to make “bold offers”.
Generally, market fundamentals, says Rightmove, “remain poor as property per branch rises from 69 in October last year to 78 now, and mortgage availability continues to deteriorate. However, 105,769 new October sellers asked a seemingly illogical £7,082 more for their homes than last month’s sellers. Why would new sellers test the market at asking prices 3.1% higher than a month ago?”
The site said that whilst bullish pricing is a normal autumn characteristic, vendors are struggling to react to new market conditions and, post-HIPs, are now testing the market at minimal cost.
Rightmove commercial director Miles Shipside said: “Given the challenges of the current market, the behaviour of sellers in raising their average asking prices by over £7,000 takes some explaining.”
He said one possible explanation was that sellers are not experiencing high levels of financial stress, but cannot afford to move unless they make their sums stack up.
But most sellers, said Rightmove, are doomed to disappointment, pointing to near-record stock levels and deteriorating mortgage availability.
Shipside said: “Some estate agents are showing a much stiffer resolve than others about the price they are recommending.
“For some agents and sellers there is the temptation to launch to the market at a speculative price, knowing one can always reduce it later.
“In these stock-rich, buyer-poor times, such a strategy stands minimal chance of success for the vendor. However, the agent that wins the instruction to sell in the first place is often able to keep the seller exclusively on their books while recommending a series of price reductions to try and get the price to a more saleable level.”
But he warned that the market can easily be “lost for good” if the launch pricing is wrong. Rightmove statistics show that interest in a property drops away sharply after the first week of marketing.
(source: Estate Agent Today)
Concerned?
The sale of your home is too important to leave to chance. The good news is that we are selling properties within the first week of marketing. This is not something that happens by accident. Rather it is the result of careful preparation and of constantly talking to buyers about what they want.
If you are serious about selling then we would love to talk with you as we have a constant demand for new property.
If you need a realistic strategy that will get you sold, call us on 023 92 602155 for a confidential chat without obligation.
The rise is in seeming defiance of market trends and will re-ignite the debate on valuations.
Rightmove said the “seemingly illogical” rise took “some explaining” and is unsupported by market fundamentals.
The 3.1% figure comes shortly after Halifax’s latest report, showing a 3.6% fall in the average prices of properties across the UK in September.
The average new asking price on Rightmove is now £236,849 – which is hugely disjointed from the Halifax’s figure of £162,096.
Whilst Nationwide reported a very slight (0.1%) rise in prices for September, its average national house price of £166,757 is not far adrift from Halifax.
The breath-taking rise in new asking prices on Rightmove comes after measuring the asking prices of 105,769 properties new to the market. In previous Octobers, asking prices have jumped 2%. The 3.1% rise equates to an average of over £7,000 in a month.
It appears to be the clearest sign yet of over-pricing.
In London, Rightmove said this morning that asking prices of properties new to the market have shot up by 5% in the last month.
But large numbers of houses in London are not selling, and prices are having to be cut. Ivor Dickinson, managing director of Douglas & Gordon, said his firm did 33% fewer transactions in September than a year ago and that asking prices are down by 10%. He said buyers should not be afraid to make “bold offers”.
Generally, market fundamentals, says Rightmove, “remain poor as property per branch rises from 69 in October last year to 78 now, and mortgage availability continues to deteriorate. However, 105,769 new October sellers asked a seemingly illogical £7,082 more for their homes than last month’s sellers. Why would new sellers test the market at asking prices 3.1% higher than a month ago?”
The site said that whilst bullish pricing is a normal autumn characteristic, vendors are struggling to react to new market conditions and, post-HIPs, are now testing the market at minimal cost.
Rightmove commercial director Miles Shipside said: “Given the challenges of the current market, the behaviour of sellers in raising their average asking prices by over £7,000 takes some explaining.”
He said one possible explanation was that sellers are not experiencing high levels of financial stress, but cannot afford to move unless they make their sums stack up.
But most sellers, said Rightmove, are doomed to disappointment, pointing to near-record stock levels and deteriorating mortgage availability.
Shipside said: “Some estate agents are showing a much stiffer resolve than others about the price they are recommending.
“For some agents and sellers there is the temptation to launch to the market at a speculative price, knowing one can always reduce it later.
“In these stock-rich, buyer-poor times, such a strategy stands minimal chance of success for the vendor. However, the agent that wins the instruction to sell in the first place is often able to keep the seller exclusively on their books while recommending a series of price reductions to try and get the price to a more saleable level.”
But he warned that the market can easily be “lost for good” if the launch pricing is wrong. Rightmove statistics show that interest in a property drops away sharply after the first week of marketing.
(source: Estate Agent Today)
Concerned?
The sale of your home is too important to leave to chance. The good news is that we are selling properties within the first week of marketing. This is not something that happens by accident. Rather it is the result of careful preparation and of constantly talking to buyers about what they want.
If you are serious about selling then we would love to talk with you as we have a constant demand for new property.
If you need a realistic strategy that will get you sold, call us on 023 92 602155 for a confidential chat without obligation.
Friday, 8 October 2010
Confusion as house prices plummet by record amount – or rise slightly
In the biggest monthly house price drop on record, house prices fell 3.6% in September, the Halifax reported.
But in an extraordinary development, a report out this morning – the Acadametrics survey – claimed housing market activity picked up in September by 3.4% and prices rose by 0.2%.
The confusion underlines why the Government has called in its chief statistician to report on the huge divergence between the house price surveys.
The Acadametrics report was distributed by the PR firm Wriglesworth, which strongly defended its findings – despite the fact that it was also sending out press releases on behalf of other clients agreeing with the findings of the Halifax report.
One, Alan Cleary, of Precise Mortgages, was quoted as agreeing that transactions had gone down in September.
Asked to comment, Wriglesworth said there were ‘Chinese walls’ with different PR executives representing the views of different clients.
In defence of the Acadametrics report being so at odds with Halifax, the PR executive said that the Halifax does not include cash-only purchases, whereas Acadametrics does.
However, the Land Registry survey does include cash purchases, and has recently been putting average house prices at much the same level as both Halifax and Nationwide. Yesterday, Halifax reported that the average price of a home in the UK is now £162,096. The fall equates to an average drop in price of £6,000.
But this morning, Acadametrics reported the average price of a home is now £223,965 – an enormous difference of almost £62,000.
Nor does its finding that housing transactions rose in September appear to tally with what some estate agents are saying.
Yesterday, Hamptons International said that its transaction levels in September were down an astonishing 20% on August.
Adam Challis, head of research at the firm, said the Halifax statistics were “worrying figures for the housing market”.
He said: “Government austerity measures have been harmful to market sentiment. Across our network, we observed some weakening of the market over the summer which continued into September. Transaction levels were down 20% last month alone.”
He said there was a “pause” in market demand and he did not expect the market to adjust to the “new normal” until next spring.
According to Halifax, the fall means that house prices are now just 2.6% higher than this time a year ago, and are now 0.9% lower than three months ago.
The Halifax’s economist, Martin Ellis, said: “Prospects for the housing market remain uncertain. Earnings growth is expected to be very modest over the next year, tax rises are on the way, and more people are putting their homes on the market. These will all be constraints on the market, dampening housing prices. “On the positive side, we expect interest rates to remain very low for some time, which will underpin the improved affordability position for home owners.”
The Halifax report also draws attention to mortgage approvals, which the Bank of England said fell to their lowest level for six months in August, to 47,372. Ellis said that low transaction levels increased the “difficulty of getting a clear reading on the current state of the housing market”.
At the RICS, Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist, said: “The latest numbers from Halifax provide further evidence that house prices are easing. That said, the 3.6% drop in this index in September undoubtedly highlights the extent of the softer trend in prices.
“Significantly, the annual rate of change in prices in the Halifax index at 2.6% is not far away from the equivalent figures from Nationwide Building Society (3.1%).
“RICS expects prices to slip a little further over the coming months.”
Peter Rollings, managing director of Marsh & Parsons, said the Halifax survey was not “the story of London”.
He said London prices had reached a plateau, but had not gone down, held up by strong demand from cash buyers.
However, Cluttons and Knight Frank both disagreed with him. Knight Frank said central London house prices had fallen for three months running.
Cluttons said central London house prices had gone down slightly (by 0.2%) and would fall further because demand had weakened and the number of properties on the market had gone up.
Andrew Stanford, head of Cluttons’ residential professional division, said: “Whilst potential applicants continued to register during the third quarter, in reality demand was low.
“There has been little activity or interest in property above £3m or for secondary stock which, as a consequence, is likely to remain on agents’ books until a price adjustment is made.”
(Estateagenttoday.co.uk)
The only way to know what is happening in your local market is to ask a qualified local expert. If you are interested in knowing what is really going on then call Blakes on 023 92 602155 for a Free appraisal. Or click here to book online.
But in an extraordinary development, a report out this morning – the Acadametrics survey – claimed housing market activity picked up in September by 3.4% and prices rose by 0.2%.
The confusion underlines why the Government has called in its chief statistician to report on the huge divergence between the house price surveys.
The Acadametrics report was distributed by the PR firm Wriglesworth, which strongly defended its findings – despite the fact that it was also sending out press releases on behalf of other clients agreeing with the findings of the Halifax report.
One, Alan Cleary, of Precise Mortgages, was quoted as agreeing that transactions had gone down in September.
Asked to comment, Wriglesworth said there were ‘Chinese walls’ with different PR executives representing the views of different clients.
In defence of the Acadametrics report being so at odds with Halifax, the PR executive said that the Halifax does not include cash-only purchases, whereas Acadametrics does.
However, the Land Registry survey does include cash purchases, and has recently been putting average house prices at much the same level as both Halifax and Nationwide. Yesterday, Halifax reported that the average price of a home in the UK is now £162,096. The fall equates to an average drop in price of £6,000.
But this morning, Acadametrics reported the average price of a home is now £223,965 – an enormous difference of almost £62,000.
Nor does its finding that housing transactions rose in September appear to tally with what some estate agents are saying.
Yesterday, Hamptons International said that its transaction levels in September were down an astonishing 20% on August.
Adam Challis, head of research at the firm, said the Halifax statistics were “worrying figures for the housing market”.
He said: “Government austerity measures have been harmful to market sentiment. Across our network, we observed some weakening of the market over the summer which continued into September. Transaction levels were down 20% last month alone.”
He said there was a “pause” in market demand and he did not expect the market to adjust to the “new normal” until next spring.
According to Halifax, the fall means that house prices are now just 2.6% higher than this time a year ago, and are now 0.9% lower than three months ago.
The Halifax’s economist, Martin Ellis, said: “Prospects for the housing market remain uncertain. Earnings growth is expected to be very modest over the next year, tax rises are on the way, and more people are putting their homes on the market. These will all be constraints on the market, dampening housing prices. “On the positive side, we expect interest rates to remain very low for some time, which will underpin the improved affordability position for home owners.”
The Halifax report also draws attention to mortgage approvals, which the Bank of England said fell to their lowest level for six months in August, to 47,372. Ellis said that low transaction levels increased the “difficulty of getting a clear reading on the current state of the housing market”.
At the RICS, Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist, said: “The latest numbers from Halifax provide further evidence that house prices are easing. That said, the 3.6% drop in this index in September undoubtedly highlights the extent of the softer trend in prices.
“Significantly, the annual rate of change in prices in the Halifax index at 2.6% is not far away from the equivalent figures from Nationwide Building Society (3.1%).
“RICS expects prices to slip a little further over the coming months.”
Peter Rollings, managing director of Marsh & Parsons, said the Halifax survey was not “the story of London”.
He said London prices had reached a plateau, but had not gone down, held up by strong demand from cash buyers.
However, Cluttons and Knight Frank both disagreed with him. Knight Frank said central London house prices had fallen for three months running.
Cluttons said central London house prices had gone down slightly (by 0.2%) and would fall further because demand had weakened and the number of properties on the market had gone up.
Andrew Stanford, head of Cluttons’ residential professional division, said: “Whilst potential applicants continued to register during the third quarter, in reality demand was low.
“There has been little activity or interest in property above £3m or for secondary stock which, as a consequence, is likely to remain on agents’ books until a price adjustment is made.”
(Estateagenttoday.co.uk)
The only way to know what is happening in your local market is to ask a qualified local expert. If you are interested in knowing what is really going on then call Blakes on 023 92 602155 for a Free appraisal. Or click here to book online.
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
Housing market 'would have been decimated' by sensible lending
If proposals on responsible lending had been in effect from 2005, the housing market would have been decimated.
The claim has come from the Council of Mortgage Lenders, which says that around 3.8 million perfectly sensible loans would potentially not have been granted.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders makes the point after carrying out an impact assessment of the Financial Services Authority's Mortgage Market Review proposals.
So strongly does it feel on the subject, that the CML is sharing its findings with the FSA ahead of its formal submission to the consultation paper.
It says that in rewriting the mortgage rule book, the FSA stands to “sacrifice far too many borrowers” and does not chime with people’s aspirations to become home owners.
In its own research, the CML has particularly looked at the proposal that lenders should have to assess borrowers’ ability to pay a mortgage.
Applying the various requirements to mortgages taken out between the second quarter of 2005 and the first quarter of 2009, the CML disputes the FSA’s assertion that 17% of all mortgages would not have been granted.
The CML, however, believes the true figure is over half of all loans.
It says that the FSA’s analysis was not thorough enough and failed to take into account the impact of some of its own proposals.
The CML concedes that a large number of borrowers would have avoided difficulty had the FSA’s proposed regime been in place: its estimate is that 151,000 cases of arrears and 38,000 cases of possession might not have occurred, as the applicants would not have obtained their mortgage.
“But under the same assumptions, 3.8 million ‘good’ loans, that have never suffered evident payment problems, would not have been granted,” says the CML.
Another key finding in its analysis is that first-time buyers would have been dealt “a massive blow”.
Meanwhile, Tesco’s plans to sell mortgages before the end of this year face a long delay because it has yet to receive approval from the FSA. Untangling the regulator’s red tape could take another 12 months.
“The FSA is just being careful. It is a new process and it is very difficult,” a Tesco spokesman said, diplomatically
(estateagenttoday.co.uk)
If you want to know more about mortgages, check out this link. You might be in for a surprise.
The claim has come from the Council of Mortgage Lenders, which says that around 3.8 million perfectly sensible loans would potentially not have been granted.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders makes the point after carrying out an impact assessment of the Financial Services Authority's Mortgage Market Review proposals.
So strongly does it feel on the subject, that the CML is sharing its findings with the FSA ahead of its formal submission to the consultation paper.
It says that in rewriting the mortgage rule book, the FSA stands to “sacrifice far too many borrowers” and does not chime with people’s aspirations to become home owners.
In its own research, the CML has particularly looked at the proposal that lenders should have to assess borrowers’ ability to pay a mortgage.
Applying the various requirements to mortgages taken out between the second quarter of 2005 and the first quarter of 2009, the CML disputes the FSA’s assertion that 17% of all mortgages would not have been granted.
The CML, however, believes the true figure is over half of all loans.
It says that the FSA’s analysis was not thorough enough and failed to take into account the impact of some of its own proposals.
The CML concedes that a large number of borrowers would have avoided difficulty had the FSA’s proposed regime been in place: its estimate is that 151,000 cases of arrears and 38,000 cases of possession might not have occurred, as the applicants would not have obtained their mortgage.
“But under the same assumptions, 3.8 million ‘good’ loans, that have never suffered evident payment problems, would not have been granted,” says the CML.
Another key finding in its analysis is that first-time buyers would have been dealt “a massive blow”.
Meanwhile, Tesco’s plans to sell mortgages before the end of this year face a long delay because it has yet to receive approval from the FSA. Untangling the regulator’s red tape could take another 12 months.
“The FSA is just being careful. It is a new process and it is very difficult,” a Tesco spokesman said, diplomatically
(estateagenttoday.co.uk)
If you want to know more about mortgages, check out this link. You might be in for a surprise.
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