The UK housing market showed continued signs of improvement in April, according to leading “For Sale” board contractor, Agency Express. Nationwide, residential property sales increased by 9.5% compared with March, marking the third consecutive monthly increase, and new “For Sale” listings rose by 13.3%, demonstrating an upward trend for the third consecutive month. Of the [...]
UK housing market
April rise in house sales and new listing
The UK housing market showed continued signs of improvement in April, according to leading “For Sale” board contractor, Agency Express. Nationwide, residential property sales increased by 9.5% compared with March, marking the third consecutive monthly increase, and new “For Sale” listings rose by 13.3%, demonstrating an upward trend for the third consecutive month. Of the [...]
House prices up 0.6% in January
Halifax has provided a welcome boost to the UK housing market, having worked out that the value of the average home rose 0.6% in January, to £160,907. The increase is only the second in the past six months and left January also registering a quarterly fall of 0.9% and an annual decline of 1.8%. According [...]
RICS: buyer demand and sales rise
The UK housing market saw an increase in buyer demand in November, according to latest research from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). Newly-agreed sales rose as a result, with 14% more respondents reporting sales increasing rather than decreasing, up from 9% more in October. The boost meant the average number of sales per [...]
RICS: buyer demand and sales rise
The UK housing market saw an increase in buyer demand in November, according to latest research from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). Newly-agreed sales rose as a result, with 14% more respondents reporting sales increasing rather than decreasing, up from 9% more in October. The boost meant the average number of sales per [...]
UK housing market unlikely to recover
Backed by some grim statistics, a member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is arguing that the UK housing market is transforming rather than adjusting, and is unlikely to return to its former glory. Addressing the Northern Housing Consortium earlier this week, Professor David Miles pointed out that transaction levels have halved [...]
Surveyors rethink UK housing market
Surveyors up and down the country are being asked for new ideas that can help straighten out the UK’s dysfunctional housing market. Since the economic crisis began, the market has changed dramatically with levels of home ownership falling and demands on social and affordable housing way outstripping supply. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) [...]
Surveyors rethink UK housing market
Surveyors up and down the country are being asked for new ideas that can help straighten out the UK’s dysfunctional housing market. Since the economic crisis began, the market has changed dramatically with levels of home ownership falling and demands on social and affordable housing way outstripping supply. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) [...]
RICS: sales increase as prices slip
The UK housing market saw a rise in activity during October, with sales increasing and demand edging up, according to the latest survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). Eight per cent more surveyors reported a rise in newly-agreed sales rather than a fall, whereas the proportion was in negative territory during September. [...]
Fewer homes put up for sale
Fewer homes were put up for sale in September, as fears over the economy left potential vendors scrapping their moving plans. In its latest overview of the UK housing market, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) also reports that new buyer enquiries increased marginally last month. Will this supply / demand dynamic at least [...]
Rightmove: asking prices up 0.7%
New sellers upped their asking prices 0.7% (or an average £1,596) in September, according to Rightmove. The rise follows falls in the previous two months and with the typical property currently marketed at £233,139, new sellers are expecting £7,255 less for their homes than at the start of the summer. The market continues to stagnate, [...]
UK housing market “totally dysfunctional”
The UK housing market is in crisis, with owner-occupier rates tumbling and private rents soaring, according to a new study from the National Housing Federation (NHF). The report predicts that home ownership in England will fall to 63.8% over the next decade, with an entire generation locked out of the housing market by a combination [...]
House sales and new instructions see May rise
The UK housing market staged something of a recovery in May, after losing ground in April, according to the latest Agency Express Property Activity Index. The UK’s largest “For Sale” board contractor recorded a 4.7% month-on-month rise in sales, although activity was 2% down compared with May 2010. Homes changed hands more readily in the [...]
Housing market “boom and bust” a 40-year trend
The tendency towards “boom and bust” in the UK housing market is distorting housing choices, curtailing housebuilding capacity and increasing inequality, according to the Joseph Rowntee Foundation. In a new report, the social research charity claims that the market has experienced persistent boom and bust cycles for the past 40 years and that urgent action [...]
RICS: housing market recovery “some way off”
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has declared that the UK housing market remained flat during March, although with regional divergences widening. Overall, there was a slight downturn in demand for property compared with February but surveyors in areas such as Scotland, Wales and the South East reported a steady increase in new-buyer enquiries. [...]
House prices up 1% so far in 2011
Nationwide has reported a mixed picture for the UK housing market, with prices rising in eight out of 13 regions in the first three months of 2011. Overall house prices increased 1%, to an average £162,379, but the rise was not sufficient to prevent the annual rate of change slipping to -0.3%. Yorkshire and Humberside [...]
Asking prices up 0.8% in March
Housesellers coming to market increased asking prices by an average 0.8% in March, according to Rightmove. The typical home is being offered for sale at £231,790, up 0.9% on a year earlier, and new listings have risen 5%, compared with March 2010. However, the volume of properties put up for sale remains 26% down on [...]
Mortgage borrowers granted another base rate reprieve
Homeowners on lenders’ tracker and standard variable rates have been granted another reprieve, with the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee having decided to keep the base rate at 0.5% in March.
The rate has remained unchanged since March 2009, when it was cut to its current historic low.
Meanwhile, research from Moneyfacts.co.uk shows that rates [...]
Housing market sees stronger regional variations
The UK housing market is experiencing strong regional variations, according to the latest survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
London was the only region to record a positive reading for house prices in February, while outside the Capital 26% more RICS members surveyed saw prices fall, rather than rise, with the East of [...]
Taylor Wimpey reflects on UK housing market cycle
In reporting its 2010 results, Taylor Wimpey describes UK housing market conditions as “broadly flat” during the year.
The group achieved a net private sales rate per outlet of 0.51 for the year as a whole (2009: 0.55) and cancellations remained in line with the long-term average, at 18.2%.
The developer increased its outlets to 301 at [...]
Persimmon reports “encouraging” sales and stable prices
Persimmon says it is well positioned for the upturn in the UK housing market, when it occurs, having seen sales increase 4.5%, to 9,384, in 2010, compared with a year earlier.
The group, which includes Charles Church and Westbury Partnerships, opened 165 new sites during the year and acquired around 10,200 plots of land, while achieving [...]
House prices show 0.9% annual decline
New house price data from the Land Registry show homes in England and Wales putting on 0.2% in January, taking the average value of a property to £163,177.
However, the annual rate of change stood at minus 0.9%, the first negative figure seen since October 2009.
In addition, property sales decreased from an average of 60,898 per [...]
Asking prices up 3% as double-dip warning renewed
Rightmove has reported that sellers coming to market have increased prices 3.1% in February, compared with a month earlier.
The typical vendor is advertising a home for sale at £230,030, or 0.3% more than this time last year.
However, the property portal describes the market as “three-tier” because mortgage lenders are focused on “bargain-hunting bottom-feeders” and the [...]
Cebr: UK house prices to fall in 2011
A fragile economic recovery looks set to disrupt the UK housing market this year, despite affordability hitting an 8-year high.
According to the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr), the value of the typical home will drop 1.7% in 2011, having gained 6.4% in 2010.
The consultancy expects “anaemic” growth in disposable incomes and higher unemployment [...]
RICS: housing market remains sluggish
The UK housing market remained sluggish during January, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) reports.
Lack of buyer demand and low levels of supply meant that 7% more surveyors reported demand for property falling, rather than rising, with potential purchasers remaining cautious about the outlook for the economy, and the possibility of mortgage rate increases [...]
