Rics data for February shows improvement in new buyer inquiries and sales
The UK housing market remains in decline but there are some signs of stabilisation, with an improvement in new buyer inquiries and sales last month, according to surveyors.
Many told the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) that a return of optimism, and lower than expected interest rates, had given the housing market some hope for the coming months after a sluggish start to the year.
Continue reading...‘Relay loans’ that can pass on to children follow other moves to make borrowing more flexible
In an attempt to stimulate China’s flagging housing market, banks in some cities are extending the upper age limit on mortgages to between 80 and 95.
Although not a national policy, banks in Beijing, Hangzhou and other big cities have started offering “relay loans” to elderly customers, which pass on to their children in the event that they cannot repay.
Continue reading...Home Builders Federation warns planning policy changes will result in government meeting less than half its annual target
Housebuilding in England is due to fall to its lowest level since the second world war, according to an analysis by the Home Builders Federation (HBF), owing to a range of government policies that threaten to dramatically slow development.
The study says the supply of new housing is likely to fall below 120,000 homes annually over the coming years, less than half of the government’s target, as a result of changes to planning policy and what developers say is over-strict enforcement of environmental regulations.
Continue reading...Further slowdown likely amid interest rate rise and cost of living crisis, says surveyors’ body Rics
Property sales and house prices continued to decline across the UK in January, while new buyer demand and fresh listings were also down, surveyors have reported.
A net balance of -47% for new buyer inquiries was reported, down from -40% in December, according to the latest monthly snapshot from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics). The January return marked the ninth successive negative monthly reading for new buyer inquiries.
Continue reading...Figure of £281,272 comes as property values drop by 1.5% in December, after 2.4% decline in November
The average UK house price fell for the fourth month in a row in December, according to Halifax, with experts expecting a further slowdown amid a long recession.
Property values decreased by 1.5% in December, the lender’s monthly index revealed, after a 2.4% drop in November, a 0.4% decrease in October and a 0.1% dip in September.
Continue reading...Annual growth rate cools in December and average price of property drops to £262,068, says Nationwide
Property prices in the UK fell for the fourth month in a row in December, the longest run of declines since 2008, according to Nationwide.
Annual house price growth also slowed sharply as the year drew to a close, to the lowest rate since mid-2020, with all regions of the country affected, according to the building society’s monthly survey.
Continue reading...The slowdown is expected to intensify with price declines between 5% and 12%
The housing market will cool sharply next year after a bumpy 2022, industry experts are predicting, as the UK contends with recession and higher mortgage rates.
As the cost of living crisis has intensified amid soaring inflation and as interest rates have increased, house prices have already started falling month-on-month. The average house price dropped 2.3% in November from October – the most since the start of the financial crash in 2008 – according to Halifax.
Continue reading...Nationwide warns inflation and rising interest rates will weigh down housing market
UK house prices have fallen at their fastest rate for two and a half years as the fallout from Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-budget put buyers off according to Nationwide, which warned inflation and rising interest rates would weigh on the market in the coming months.
The price of an average home dropped 1.4% to £263,788 in November, according to the lender’s house price index, accelerating a slowdown that saw prices fall 0.9% in October. It was the third monthly fall in a row, and the biggest drop since June 2020.
Continue reading...Large estate agent chain’s profits also hit as interest rate rises and cost of living crisis put off potential buyers
Shares in one of the UK’s biggest estate agent chains and some of the largest British housebuilders fell on Friday, amid the latest warnings about the outlook for the housing market, as potential homebuyers are squeezed by rising interest rates and the cost of living crisis.
The share price of LSL Property Services, one of the UK’s largest estate agent chains, tumbled by as much as 11% after it warned on profits for the second half of the year and said conditions in the housing market had become more challenging than anticipated.
Continue reading...Hike in mortgage costs after mini-budget cuts 20% off buyer demand in October
First-time buyers pulled back most from purchasing a home after the increase in mortgage costs following the mini-budget, according to a report showing a widespread slowdown in the property market.
Figures from the property platform Rightmove show buyer demand fell 20% in October compared with a year ago, as house-hunters put their property searches on hold in response to soaring borrowing costs and rising economic uncertainty.
Continue reading...Halifax reports steepest monthly drop since February 2021 amid interest rate rises
UK house prices fell by 0.4% in October after Liz Truss’s mini-budget drove a sudden rise in mortgage rates, the lender Halifax said.
The decline in the average price to £292,598 was the third in the past four months and the steepest since February 2021. The annual rate of growth in house prices slowed to 8.3% in October from 9.8% in September.
Continue reading...Increase adds up to a £26bn rise for homeowners, says Resolution Foundation thinktank
More than five million families could see their annual mortgage payments rise by an average of £5,100 between now and the end of 2024, heaping fresh pain on households already struggling with higher food and energy bills.
The increase adds up to a £26bn mortgage rise for homeowners, according to the analysis by the Resolution Foundation thinktank which said nearly a fifth of British households would have to spend more on their housing costs by the end of 2024.
Continue reading...RICS report says rise in repossessions will add to supply while soaring interest rates price buyers out of market
Homeowners will struggle to make mortgage repayments and repossessions will rise next year as soaring interest rates and falling prices mark the end of the UK’s 13-year housing market boom, according to a sobering report from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
The number of inquiries from potential homebuyers fell for a fifth month in a row in September, while sales fell to the lowest level since May 2020 when the housing market all but ground to a halt during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, it said.
Continue reading...Initiative may continue beyond December as bank bosses raise concerns over mortgage market
The chancellor is considering extending the government’s mortgage guarantee scheme after UK bank bosses raised concerns over the state of the UK’s mortgage market at a high-level meeting at No 11 Downing Street.
The meeting on Thursday – which was attended by chief executives including Alison Rose of NatWest, Charlie Nunn of Lloyds Banking Group, HSBC UK’s Ian Stuart, Mike Regnier of Santander and TSB’s Robin Bulloch – was scheduled amid mounting fears about the potential fallout from rapidly rising mortgage rates.
Continue reading...Mortgage market meltdown has left many amateur landlords facing a stark choice: to raise rents or sell up
Britain’s amateur landlords have benefited from years of runaway house price inflation, while intense competition among tenants has sent rents soaring. Now, thanks to the meltdown in the mortgage market triggered by last week’s disastrous mini-budget, many face a financial cliff edge.
Figures shared with the Guardian show that the number of new buy-to-let mortgage deals available has plummeted by 55% in less than a week as lenders frantically pulled products and in many cases increased prices.
Continue reading...Crisis at debt-laden Chinese property developer deepens in wake of default last year and failure to sell building
Lenders to the struggling Chinese developer Evergrande Group have appointed a receiver to seize its Hong Kong headquarters, two sources have said, as the world’s most indebted developer struggles to emerge from its debt crisis.
Evergrande is saddled with more than $300bn (£260bn) in liabilities and has been kept alive by a government-run rescue operation since it defaulted on $22.7bn of overseas debts in December last year.
Continue reading...Interest rate rises lead to dwelling values falling for third month in a row with Sydney prices down 5.2% since January
Australia’s property prices are falling at rates comparable to the onset of the global financial crisis or the 1980s downturn as higher interest rates deflate demand. Sydney’s drop, though, is already more precipitous than those earlier eras.
In July alone, dwelling values fell 1.3% on average nationally, marking a third consecutive monthly decline according to CoreLogic, a property data firm. Five of the nation’s eight capitals reported falls, with Sydney down 2.2% and Melbourne retreating 1.5% while prices in Brisbane, Canberra and Hobart were also starting to slide.
Continue reading...Weakening economy, cost-of-living squeeze and rising interest rates are cooling market, index shows
Annual house price gains across the UK have slowed for a third month as the weakening economy, cost of living squeeze and rising interest rates started to have an impact on the property market.
The average UK house price hit a new record high of £271,613, but there are “tentative signs of a slowdown,” Nationwide building society said.
Continue reading...Buyers face bidding wars to snare homes despite soaring inflation, cost of living crisis and fears of property crash
It took less than a week to sell a two-bedroom garden flat in north London, with a guide price of £950,000. Featuring a large patio, garden, oak floorboards and underfloor heating, it is in a mixed area on the outskirts of Islington and Camden.
“We’ve been inundated with people wanting to see it,” says Andrew Groocock, a regional partner at the estate agents Knight Frank, which helped organise 23 viewings. “It ticks the boxes of exactly what’s hot in the market at the moment. It’s still an incredibly buoyant market. The last two years have been remarkable.”
Continue reading...Shelter says a private tenant is handed notice every seven minutes despite government promise to ban practice in April 2019
More than 200,000 private renters have been served eviction notices without doing anything wrong in the three years since the government first promised to ban the practice, housing campaigners have claimed.
Every seven minutes a tenant has been landed with a no-fault eviction notice since Theresa May’s Conservative government first committed to scrap them in April 2019, according to research by Shelter, the housing charity.
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