* seasonally adjusted

Commenting on the figures Martin Gahbauer, Nationwide’s Chief Economist, said:

“The price of a typical UK property rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.5% month-on-month (m/m) in May, following a 1.1% increase in April. The smoother 3 month on 3 month rate of increase rose from 1.1% in April to 1.7%, as February’s fall in house prices dropped out of the most recent three month average. The annual rate of house price inflation dropped from 10.5% to 9.8%, which reflects the weaker pace of increase in May 2010 relative to May 2009. Since reaching a trough in February 2009 – following a drop of 19.3% from their October 2007 peak – house prices have risen by 12.2% and are now just 9.5% below the October 2007 peak.

“Housing market conditions remain characterised by thin transaction volumes and a relative scarcity of properties for sale, despite a slow return of more sellers in recent months. The current supply-demand balance on the market is still consistent with relatively stable to modestly upward trending prices.”

Impact of capital gains tax changes on house prices depends on timing of implementation

“The coalition agreement between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats contains plans to increase the rate of capital gains tax (CGT) charged on the disposal of non-business assets, potentially including second homes and buy-to-let investment properties. Currently the CGT rate on such assets is 18%, and the coalition plans are to raise the rate to a level “similar or close to those applied to income.” Precise details, however, will not be known until the Emergency Budget announcement on 22 June.

“With regard to what the short-term impact will be on the housing market and house prices, the key question is around the timing and implementation of any CGT increase. If there is a significant time lag between the announcement of the increase and its actual implementation, then some second home owners and buy-to-let landlords may decide to sell in advance of the higher rate being introduced. Such a development could lead the supply-demand balance to shift more in favour of buyers and relieve the current upward pressure on house prices. However, it is difficult to know with any precision how many people would bring forward a decision to sell.

“The incentive to try to beat the higher tax rate is most pressing for those who have owned their properties for a relatively long period of time and therefore have relatively large unrealised gains. Conversely, those who bought their second homes or investment property within the last five years have little incentive to sell early in order to beat the tax change. House prices have only risen back to their mid-2006 level and the first £10,100 of capital gains is currently tax free.

“If the new rate comes into effect immediately on 22 June, then supply conditions are unlikely to be affected materially as any potential sellers would not have time to react.

“There are some examples of where tax changes have had a significant short-term impact on the housing market. Most prominent was the March 1988 announcement to end double Mortgage Interest Relief At Source (MIRAS) for cohabiting couples. The implementation of the tax change was postponed until August of that year, which prompted a rush of buyers to try to beat the deadline. The result was a temporary surge in property values, with house prices increasing by 18% between Q1 1988 and Q3 1988 alone.

“However, the most recent change in CGT rates announced in the 2007 Pre-Budget Report did not have any discernable impact on the supply of property on the market. At the time, the existing CGT rates of 24-40% – depending on taper relief and income status – were cut to a flat rate of 18%. New instructions to sell property remained very low even after the tax changes were introduced, although this may also have been due to the very weak market conditions prevailing at the time.”

Monthly UK House Price Statistics

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* seasonally adjusted

Commenting on the figures Martin Gahbauer, Nationwide’s Chief Economist, said:

The price of a typical UK property rose by a seasonally adjusted 1.0% month-on-month (m/m) in April, leaving house prices 10.5% higher than a year earlier. Over the lifetime of the last Parliament (May 2005 to April 2010), house prices have risen by 6.7%. This compares to a 13.5% increase in the consumer price index, the official target measure of inflation.

April’s figures show the first double-digit annual growth in UK house prices since June 2007. The year-on-year rate in this month’s figures, however, received an additional boost from the fact that April 2009 was one of the weaker months last year. Given the very strong performance of house prices from May 2009 onwards, it will take monthly increases in excess of 1% for the annual rate of inflation to be maintained in double digits going forward. The smoother three month on three month rate of inflation edged down further from 1.5% in March to 1.1% in April, which primarily reflects the impact of February’s 1.0% decline in house prices. April’s figures leave UK house prices exactly 10% below the October 2007 peak.

For further information please see  April 2010 report (PDF 64KB).

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The NAEA has long campaigned for a major rethink on stamp duty – which it believes to be a tax on aspiration. Today in the final Budget before the election, Mr Darling listened and raised the threshold to £250,000 from midnight tonight.

Peter Bolton King, chief executive of the NAEA, said: “For thousands of first time buyers the dream of getting onto the property ladder was slipping out of reach.

“This announcement has added a new rung to the property ladder, one within reach of thousands of young families.

“We have long argued that stamp duty is a tax on aspiration that smothered the natural demand of the market. We still believe that more reform is needed and there is more work to be done, but this is a good first step – a major victory for first time buyers.”

The NAEA has for years called for a major reform of stamp duty land tax, beginning with the threshold being raised. Most recently in the run up to this Budget the association led a coalition of property organisations in calling for reform, under the banner of the 1808 campaign. More information on the 1808 campaign can be found at http://www.nfopp.co.uk/1808/

ENDS

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According to Iranzo, the banks are sitting on 100,000 of Spain’s 700,000 unsold new homes, which they will now have to dump on the market. Thanks to new rules from the Bank of Spain forcing banks to increase their provisions on unsold properties, which took effect in January, Iranzo also expects the banks to drop their prices in search of sales. He pointed out that banks need to improve their balance sheets by selling property, though it is unclear how selling property at a loss will help do that.

What green shoots?

There has been some talk recently in the mainstream Spanish media about an incipient recovery in the housing market, but according to Iranzo the housing sector will get “quite a lot worse” this year, thanks to the recession and increasing unemployment. “The outlook doesn’t favour the house purchases,” remarked Iranzo. He warned that prices still have room to fall, and that interest rates will go up towards the end of the year, putting further pressure on prices.

“Never again”

A glut of newly-built properties isn’t the only problem the market is having to deal with. Demand has also retrenched massively, and may not pick up until 2012 or 2013, says Iranzo.

When does he expect demand to return to the boom levels of 700,000 homes a year? “Never again,” says Iranzo, who expects demand to stabilise around 450,000 homes per year in 2012.

It is important to note that Iranzo is basically talking about the market for primary housing in and around Spanish cities, not holiday homes on the coast. Some experts expect the quality holiday home market to recover much quicker, thanks to supply limits and internationally diversified demand.

Link to original article and more Spanish property information

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24 February 2010

Conference time: 0845hrs – 1630hrs

Background

The CML compile and publish a range of statistics on the UK housing and mortgage markets including key data on mortgage lending, arrears and possessions and market segments such as buy-to-let. This unparalleled knowledge and insight into the important role housing plays in the economy is the basis on which this conference programme is built.

The detailed content will help all organisations, not just lenders, operating within the world of housing. The content discussed will be crucial to understanding current and future housing market conditions.

Chaired by Sue Anderson, head of external affairs, Council of Mortgage Lenders

Expert speakers will include:

• Michael Coogan, Director General, Council of Mortgage Lenders
• Rt. Hon John Healey MP, Minister for Housing and Planning
• Peter Williams, housing consultant and Chairman, IMLA
• Steven Hall, director, KPMG
• Bob Pannell, head of research, Council of Mortgage Lenders
• John Stewart, director of economic affairs, Home Builders Federation
• Rob Thomas, senior policy adviser, Council of Mortgage Lenders

Delegates currently booked on include:

• Technical director, Allied Surveyors
• Head of sales, Halifax Intermediaries
• Head of product delivery, HBOS plc
• Team leader, housing regeneration and third sector team, HM Treasury
• Business project manager, Legal and General Assurance Society

Cost:

£275 for members (VAT exempt)
£325 for non-members (VAT exempt)

Our event fees remain highly competitive with prices for members and associates not having increased since January 2007

Location:

The Westbury Hotel, Bond Street, Mayfair, London, W1S 2YF

This event is open to press

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The latest Bank of England mortgage data published today confirms the likelihood that there may have been a “bunching” of house purchase transactions in December to beat the stamp duty concession deadline.The gross lending total of £13.4 bn in December 2009 was in line with the CML’s estimate (£13.5 bn) and seems to confirm the CML’s view that much activity was “rushed through” to beat the stamp duty deadline. Gross lending totalled £143.5 bn in 2009.

Net lending remains up from the near stagnation in the middle of the year. For 2009 as a whole net lending totalled £11.5 bn. This was the lowest level on record (back to 1987), but higher than the CML forecast of £8 bn. It was largely driven by the relative strength of house purchase activity, which picked up over the latter part of the year, and weak levels of repayments. The CML sees little if any evidence that households, in aggregate, are using low interest rates to pay down mortgage debt more quickly.

CML economist Paul Samter said:

“These figures confirm that the mortgage market ended 2009 in much better shape than it started, but it still looks like a slow haul back to meaningful levels of activity. It should be no surprise if January and February this year appear particularly slow, if we are correct in our view that many buyers rushed to beat the stamp duty concession deadline in December.”

Notes to editors

1. The December lending data is available from the Bank of England website.

Contact details

Name: Sue Anderson

Tel: 020 7438 8924

Email: sue.anderson@cml.org.uk

Name: Bernard Clarke

Tel: 020 7438 8923

Email: bernard.clarke@cml.org.uk

Name: Jayne Chichester

Tel: 020 7438 8922

Email: jayne.chichester@cml.org.uk

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Surveyors in the West Midlands, East Midlands, Wales and Scotland predict that the end of the holiday will have a “detrimental effect” in areas that are yet to see a recovery from the recession, and widely expect to see a drop in market activity when the threshold reverts back to its previous ways. The temporary stamp duty holiday was implemented in September 2008 and will finish at the end of the year.

The 1% tax will be reintroduced for properties sold over £125,000 compared with the £175,000 currently in operation, with The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors calling for the tax to be restructured. The Council of Mortgage Lenders calculates that 132,500 houses that were bought funded with a mortgage had escaped paying stamp duty in the past year.

“This is one of those situations where we will have to wait and see what the long term affects are to the housing market, but there can be no doubt that the stamp duty holiday has been a huge help to various regions in the UK,” says Laurence Smith of Decision Homebuyers. “People looking to sell a house quick or who are looking to buy a property are now working under different market conditions, and will have to cater their budgets accordingly as a result.”

To find out more about Decision Homebuyers and their services:
Please call 08456 341 456
or visit: http://www.decisionhomebuyers.co.uk/

About Decision Homebuyers:
Established in 2006 and specialising in fast property purchase, Decision Homebuyers are experts in their field. Decision Homebuyers can buy your house fast and guarantee to make cash offers on all types of residential and commercial property, no matter what the condition.

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Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – rose 7.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate¹ of 6.54 million units in November from 6.09 million in October, and are 44.1 percent higher than the 4.54 million-unit pace in November 2008. Current sales remain at the highest level since February 2007 when they hit 6.55 million.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the rise was expected. “This clearly is a rush of first-time buyers not wanting to miss out on the tax credit, but there are many more potential buyers who can enter the market in the months ahead,” he said. “We expect a temporary sales drop while buying activity ramps up for another surge in the spring when buyers take advantage of the expanded tax credit, which hopefully will take us into a self-sustaining market in the second half of 2010. In all, 4.4 million households are expected to claim the tax credit before it expires and balance should be restored to the housing sector with inventories continuing to decline.”

An NAR practitioner survey² shows first-time buyers purchased 51 percent of homes in November, compared with an upwardly revised 50 percent of transactions in October.

According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage fell to 4.88 percent in November from 4.95 percent in October; the rate was 6.09 percent in November 2008. Last month’s mortgage interest rate was the second lowest on record after bottoming at 4.81 percent in April 2009.

NAR President Vicki Cox Golder, owner of Vicki L. Cox & Associates in Tucson, Ariz., said conditions are optimal for buyers in the current market. “Inventories have steadily declined and are closer to balanced levels, which indicate home prices in many areas are either stabilizing or could soon stabilize and return to normal appreciation patterns,” she said. “This means buyers still have good choices but are purchasing near the bottom of the price cycle with historically low mortgage interest rates. Throw a tax credit on top and it really doesn’t get any better for buyers with secure jobs and long-term ownership plans.”

Total housing inventory at the end of November declined 1.3 percent to 3.52 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 6.5-month supply³ at the current sales pace, down from an 7.0-month supply in October.

Raw unsold inventory figures are 15.5 percent below a year ago. The last time there was a lower supply of homes on the market was April 2006 when it was at a 6.1-month supply.

“Nearly all markets experienced a solid sales gain from one year ago,” Yun said. “The only markets with measurably lower sales were in San Diego, Riverside, and Sacramento, where inventory shortages for lower priced homes are limiting sales.”

For the second month in a row, sales have risen in all price classes from a year earlier. Prior to October, the only consistent gains were in the lower price ranges.

The national median existing-home price⁴ for all housing types was $172,600 in November, which is 4.3 percent below November 2008. Distressed properties, which accounted for 33 percent of sales in November, continue to downwardly distort the median price because they generally sell at a discount relative to traditional homes in the same area.

Single-family home sales jumped 8.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.77 million in November from a level of 5.32 million in October, and are 42.1 percent above the pace of 4.06 million in November 2008. The median existing single-family home price was $171,900 in November, down 4.4 percent from a year ago.

Existing condominium and co-op sales in November were unchanged from a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 770,000 in October, but are 60.1 percent above the 481,000-unit pace a year ago. The median existing condo price⁵ was $178,000 in November, which is 3.1 percent below November 2008.

Regionally, existing-home sales in the Northeast rose 6.6 percent to an annual level of 1.13 million in November, and are 52.7 percent higher than November 2008. The median price in the Northeast was $223,400, down 13.1 percent from a year ago.

Existing-home sales in the Midwest increased 8.4 percent in November to a pace of 1.55 million and are 53.5 percent above a year ago. The median price in the Midwest was $140,800, a decline of 0.4 percent from November 2008.

In the South, existing-home sales rose 4.8 percent to an annual level of 2.39 million in November and are 44.8 percent higher than a year ago. The median price in the South was $151,400, down 1.4 percent from November 2008.

Existing-home sales in the West increased 10.6 percent to an annual rate of 1.46 million in November and are 28.1 percent above November 2008. The median price in the West was $231,100, which is 4.1 percent below a year ago.

The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1.2 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

# # #

NOTE: NAR also reports monthly comparisons of existing single-family home sales and median prices for select metropolitan statistical areas, and is posted with other tables at: www.realtor.org/research/research/ehsdata. For information on areas not included in the report, please contact the local association of Realtors®.

¹The annual rate for a particular month represents what the total number of actual sales for a year would be if the relative pace for that month were maintained for 12 consecutive months. Seasonally adjusted annual rates are used in reporting monthly data to factor out seasonal variations in resale activity. For example, home sales volume is normally higher in the summer than in the winter, primarily because of differences in the weather and family buying patterns. However, seasonal factors cannot compensate for abnormal weather patterns.

Existing-home sales, which include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, are based on transaction closings. This differs from the U.S. Census Bureau’s series on new single-family home sales, which are based on contracts or the acceptance of a deposit. Because of these differences, it is not uncommon for each series to move in different directions in the same month. In addition, existing-home sales, which generally account for 85 to 90 percent of total home sales, are based on a much larger sample – more than 40 percent of multiple listing service data each month – and typically are not subject to large prior-month revisions.

Single-family data collection began monthly in 1968, while condo data collection began quarterly in 1981; the series were combined in 1999 when monthly collection of condo data began. Prior to this period, single-family homes accounted for more than nine out of 10 purchases. Historic comparisons for total home sales prior to 1999 are based on monthly single-family sales, combined with the corresponding quarterly sales rate for condos.

²First-time buyer and distressed sales data are from the Realtor® Confidence Index; prior month first-time buyer data was revised due to a computational coding issue after the questionnaire was updated to obtain more specific breakouts.

³Total inventory and month’s supply data are available back through 1999, while single-family inventory and month’s supply are available back to 1982.

⁴The only valid comparisons for median prices are with the same period a year earlier due to the seasonality in buying patterns. Month-to-month comparisons do not compensate for seasonal changes, especially for the timing of family buying patterns. Changes in the composition of sales can distort median price data. Year-ago median and mean prices sometimes are revised in an automated process if more data is received than was originally reported.

⁵Because there is a concentration of condos in high-cost metro areas, the national median condo price generally is higher than the median single-family price. In a given market area, condos typically cost less than single-family homes.

Existing-home sales for December will be released January 25. The next Pending Home Sales Index is scheduled for January 5; release times are 10 a.m. EST.

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Six individuals have been charged with offences in connection with a series of high value commercial mortgage frauds.  Following a hearing at City of London Magistrates’ Court the case has been sent to Southwark Crown Court for a preliminary hearing on 4 January 2010.

The investigation was referred to the Serious Fraud Office in March 2006 by West Midlands Police following a complaint from the Cheshire Building Society.

It is alleged that the defendants participated in a series of frauds whereby they dishonestly obtained loans from banks or building societies that were secured on six commercial investment properties. Each property was transferred between companies controlled by one of the defendants and his associates at highly inflated prices in a series of back to back transactions. On the basis of the grossly inflated prices, fraudulent valuations and forged leases, the defendants applied for and obtained mortgage advances totalling nearly £50 million.  The mortgages were quickly defaulted on and the lenders suffered significant losses.

Five individuals, Ian McGarry (d.o.b 10/05/69), Hardeep Sodhi (d.o.b 05/10/76), Fatema Patwa (d.o.b 20/02/62), Saghir Afzal (d.o.b 01/01/62) and Laurence Ferrigan (d.o.b 20/11/61) have been charged with offences of conspiracy to obtain a money transfer by deception and dishonestly obtaining a money transfer. Simon Lawrence (d.o.b 07/04/61) has been charged with conspiracy to obtain a money transfer by deception.

Notes

At the relevant time:

• Ian McGarry was a chartered surveyor at Dunlop Haywards Lorenz;
• Fatema Patwa was the sole principal of her own firm, Patwa Solicitors, based in Birmingham.
• Hardeep Sodhi was a solicitor employed at Patwa Solicitors in Birmingham.
• Laurence Ferrigan was a partner at The CFB Partnership, Wanstead, East London.
• Saghir Afzal was a company director and property owner.
• Simon Lawrence was a partner of Darlingtons Solicitors in, Edgware

Serious Fraud Office, Elm House, 10-16 Elm Street, London, WC1X 0BJ

Press Office tel: 020 7239 7001/7004 or mobile: 0781 807 6688

Main switchboard tel: 020 7239 7272

press.office@sfo.gsi.gov.uk – or via – www.sfo.gov.uk

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A recent study of more than 3,000 potential first time buyers reveals that 28 per cent feel they will need to save for at least five years before finally getting the keys to their own home.

One in 10 respondents have been saving for more than five years and still do not have enough deposit, while 30 per cent have no savings to put towards a deposit at all.

However, there is still help at hand, with new homes builder Stamford Homes offering its own incentives as well as Government shared equity schemes to get first time buyers onto the housing ladder.

These include;
Easystart where customers can own 100 per cent of a brand-new home for 80 per cent of the price with just five per deposit required.

HomeBuy Direct a Government home purchase scheme to help first time buyers onto the property ladder where you own 100 per cent of your home for just 70 per cent of the price, and just five per cent deposit required. This offer was to come to an end in March 2010 but has now been extended until September 2010 and has limited availability.

Stamp duty exemption on homes under £175,000. However, the Government’s exemption holiday ends on December 31.
Stamford Homes regional sales and marketing director Peter Bond said: “While the statistics by themselves do make fairly depressing reading, it is still encouraging that so many people are thinking about buying a home.

“There is evidence that many of our first time buyers have been able to afford their dream home through one of our many incentives schemes available across our developments.

“We recognise that raising a deposit does have its difficulties, but there are other scheme which can take away that pressure of the house buying process.”

For details of new homes around the region, visit www.stamford-homes.co.uk

- ENDS -

Notes to the Editor:
Stamford Homes operates throughout the East Midlands and Lincolnshire and forms a part of Galliford Try’s Housebuilding Division: Galliford Try Homes.
www.stamford-homes.co.uk

Galliford Try Homes operates through four strong regional brands: Linden Homes, Stamford Homes, Midas Homes, and Gerald Wood Homes specialising in brownfield development. The business is capable of developing over 3,000 homes per year, covering the entire region from the West Country to Lincolnshire and the South-East.
www.gallifordtryhomes.co.uk

For further information please contact:

Cetti Long
Media Matters PR
Stamford Homes
Tel: 01733 371363.
E-mail: cetti@mediamatters-pr.co.uk

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