Nottingham Letting Agent Property Blog

According to figures from the Nationwide, house prices are now the same as a year earlier. A typical house now costs £162,638, and prices rose 0.2% in February from January. In spite of the fact that house prices have remained unchanged for a year, lenders feel there are tentative signs that things are picking up. The government’s Funding for Lending scheme has provided institutions with the incentives to take on more funding, increasing the availability of lending. The aim is for at least £80 billion to be funnelled through this scheme to homeowners, businesses and borrowers. So far the Funding for...

The latest Halifax house price index has shown sales reached their highest level for five years in 2012, suggesting the market may be recovering. The total number of home sales last year was 932,000, but this is still substantially lower than the 1,619,000 sold in 2007 before the financial crisis took hold. Experts at Halifax think the increase in market activity is related to improved mortgage approval numbers, and that the government’s Funding for Lending scheme is having a positive impact. The scheme has helped lenders improve mortgage availability and to lower interest rates during the past few months. During the...

The latest figures from the National Association of Estate Agents shows more house hunters are looking for homes in the UK. The December report shows figures are up by 41% from their lowest level in December 2008, and the average estate agents now has 282 people looking for homes. This is an increase of 7% compared to the previous month and is of particular interest because December is typically challenging for the property market as many people choose to postpone looking for a home until after Christmas.The report also showed a slight decrease in the percentage of sales made to first-time...

It seems a terrible shame that English Heritage is to cut down on commissioning its famous Blue Plaques due to budget cuts, and the scheme is closed to new applications while a more cost-effective approach is sought. The scheme was originally founded in 1866, and there are approximately 850 plaques in place. The ceramic plaques cost £965 to make as the process is quite complicated. The majority of these blue plaques can only be found in London, as a scheme to extend the project to other parts of the country was unfortunately scrapped in 2009. However some cities, such as Manchester,...

According to experts, property prices in Britain are still too high, even though the market is set to remain in a slump that will be the longest since records began. The experts were polled by the Financial Times, and although 26 didn’t think property prices were too high, 44 thought homes in the UK were overvalued. In spite of this the very few predicted there would be any significant price falls this year. Another report by Knight Frank found the average price peaked in 2007 at £183,959, but is not expected to return to this level until 2019. Property prices initially...

The latest data from the Nationwide house price index shows property prices remained largely flat this month, and are 1.2% less than in November last year. However the market does show signs of becoming more stable, even when seasonal factors are taken into account. Experts feel this is partially due to the employment figures being better than expected, which is helping to support the demand for new homes, but is also due to supply. In spite of this wages are not increasing substantially, and economists are forecasting that house prices will remain largely unchanged, or the prices may decline slightly over...

People who bought a property in 2007 when the market was at its peak face a possible gap of thousands of pounds when trying to move up the property ladder. Research by First Direct has found 360,000 buyers who bought their first time in 2007 will need to borrow an additional £56,000. When taking into account the shortfall in deposit and general moving costs this shortfall goes up by another £6,500. In 2007 the average cost of a first-time buyer’s property was £167,417, and the average deposit was £16,742. The average value has fallen by £7,819, so these buyers now have...

According to an article in Property Wire, the latest House Price Sentiment Index by Knight Frank and economics consultancy Markit, more people feel optimistic about the possibility of house price increases than any time in the past two years. The index now stands at 55.9, having reached a six month low in October of 50.5. An index of greater than 50 is more indicative of price increases, while any figure of less than 50 is indicative of house price falls.The only region not to be positive about house prices was Wales, with an index of 45.2, compared to 63.3 in London....

According to the latest data available, the average house price in England and Wales dropped by 0.3% last month compared to August. This means the average house price is now 162,561, which is an annual increase of 1.1%. Not surprisingly property in London showed the largest annual increase of 5.5%, while prices increased the most in Wales on a monthly basis, rising by 0.5%.Property prices dropped the most in the North East, with an annual decrease of 3.2%, while property prices in Yorkshire and the Humber fell the most on a monthly basis, decreasing by 2.2%. Property prices fell in most...

The latest analysis of sales of residential homes in England and Wales shows house prices increased by 2.5% last month, and are by 2.6% compared to August 2011. However there are huge regional variations and the North-South divide is getting larger. The residential market is largely been driven by buyers in the South East, South West and London, but there are even differences in the cities, as for example the more affluent London boroughs are seeing much larger price growth than less desirable areas.Experts think this latest data demonstrates how resilient the housing market is proving to be, although they have...

According to the latest housing market survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the number of housing transactions is continuing to fall, and there are fewer new properties coming on to the market. However the report did find the number of potential buyers increased in July compared to June, even though the weather wasn't exactly compelling. In spite of this many are still experiencing problems with mortgage finance, and transaction numbers have fallen to an average of 15.1 per estate agency branch despite the year beginning strongly.The government recently introduced its NewBuy scheme which was meant to address problems over...

The latest survey by the Nationwide has shown that property prices fell by 0.7% last month, and have declined by 2.6% compared to a year ago. This marks the sharpest annual fall since August 2009 even though property prices have risen slightly since the beginning of the year. The average property is currently worth £164,389, slightly more than in December 2011 when it was worth £163,822. Property prices have now fallen to May 2006 levels, and are an average of 13% below their peak in 2007, according to the Nationwide index.The Bank of England's new funding for lending scheme began last...

The latest figures from the Land Registry House Index show the price of residential property increased by 0.1% in England and Wales in June compared to May. The average house price is now £161,777. This takes the average annual increase up to 0.9%, although the average price increase in London over the last 12 months is 6.3%. The picture isn't quite so rosy in other parts of the country, as properties in the East Midlands saw prices decline by 0.1% in June compared to May, while prices in the South West fell by an average of 0.2%. Prices in Yorkshire and...

According to experts house prices may fall further during the coming months, and will only begin to recover next year. This gloomy news comes as the latest Bank of England figures show a drop in the number of mortgage loans receiving approval. Their data shows 51,098 mortgages were approved for house purchases in May which were worth a total of £7.6 billion. This is the lowest figure since March, and is significantly less than the 25 month high achieved in January.The start of 2012 saw a rush of first-time buyers trying to beat the March deadline for the end of stamp...

According to the Nationwide the UK property market will continue to stagnate, and it is warning that at the very best house prices will remain static for the rest of the year. Property prices fell by 0.6% in June, and have fallen by 1.5% over the last year. Although this is a relatively modest drop, it is the largest annual decline since August 2009. The Nationwide has pointed out this is hardly surprising given the fact that the UK economy fell back into recession at the beginning of the year, and it expects economic conditions to remain tough for at least...

The Nationwide announced property prices rose by 0.6% in February compared to January, marking the first monthly increase since November but warned this may only be temporary. It thinks the rise in house prices may be due to first-time buyers looking to take advantage of the stamp duty holiday before it expires on 24 March. If this is the case then house prices may hold up in the short-term before cooling again over the summer. The average home costs £162,712 which is an increase of £1,529 compared to a year ago, but is £6,019 less than the recent high which was...

More than a third of homes for sale have had their price reduced at least once since being listed, with Glasgow, Blackpool and Maidstone being the worst affected. The average discount from the original selling price is £19,580, or 7.5% which is £1,000 more than price reductions seen this time last year. According to Zoopla, homeowners are slashing their prices in an effort to attract buyers, and apparently if all these reductions were added up they would total around £2.5 billion. The current levels of discounted properties are at a new high as sellers come to terms with the fact that...

The Halifax has just released the results of its quality of life survey, and has revealed that Hart in Hampshire is the best place to live. The survey takes into account the local housing markets, environment, education, health and the employment market. Apparently Hart residents enjoy good health, low unemployment, a low crime rate, an additional three hours more of sunshine than the national average, and benefit from a number of other factors such as a good broadband connection. Residents in Hart also earn more than 40% above the national average, a fact that is reflected in the fact that house...

The latest report from the RICS makes for gloomy reading, as house prices are expected to continue their slow descent. The property market is still likely to be constrained by a lack of mortgage availability, concerns over the economy, and worries over property deflation.  This is in spite of the fact that numbers of potential homebuyers have increased for the last three consecutive months, with 5% more RICS agents expecting sales to increase in the New Year. However 17% of RICS members reported house prices dropping in November as opposed to increasing, although this was a little better than the previous...

Last month saw house price falls in nearly a third of the country, with the average property price dropping by 0.2% according to research from Hometrack, and it's forecasting this rate of decline could increase during the coming months. Figures from the Hometrack Monthly National Housing Survey show property prices have fallen consecutively during the last 16 months, and this year could see the lowest number of house sales for 40 years. However this price decline has been slight as prices are down by just 2.3% compared to last year.Hometrack is basing these predictions on several factors, one of which is ...