Homeowners appear to be taking advantage of low interest rates after Bank of England figures showed borrowers paid a record £24 billion last year. According to the Bank, homeowners paid back more than £24 billion to lenders last year – the highest since records began in 1970. Meanwhile, £7 billion was paid back in the [...]
2010
Bovis reports encouraging start to 2011
Bovis has reported an encouraging start in the first nine weeks of 2011, with reservations up 11% year-on-year on a similar number of active sales outlets.
The house builder achieved 268 private reservations against 242 in the first nine weeks of 2010, and pricing was consistent with levels achieved in the second half of last year.
The [...]
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 [...]
Mortgage lending stabilises in 2010
Mortgage lending stabilised in 2010 after “very sharp” falls in 2008 and 2009, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has reported.
Over the whole of last year, there were 529,300 loans advanced for house purchase (worth £77.1 billion) up 3% by volume and 11% by value on a year earlier.
Loans for remortgage were at a [...]
Buy-to-let lending makes promising recovery
Buy-to-let mortgage lending grew by 7% in 2010, according to the latest data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).
By the year-end, there were an estimated 1.3 million buy-to-let loans outstanding, worth £152 billion.
The total value of lending during 2010 stood at £10.4 billion (up 22% on 2009), and the total number of loans [...]
Repossessions set to rise after 2010 falls
The number of repossessions by the UK’s first-charge mortgage lenders fell to 36,300 in 2010, with the figure down 24% on 2009, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).
The decline meant that 0.3% of all mortgages were subject to possession proceedings last year, while arrears fell by 13% to 169,600 (1.49% of all home [...]
New mortgage lending shrinks
New mortgage lending shrank in December, by £0.3 billion, compared to a rise £0.5 billion in November and a previous six-month average of plus £0.6 billion, according to Bank of England figures.
The number of loans approved for house purchase declined to 42,563, down from 47,287 in November, and compared with a previous six-month average [...]
Official: house prices up 1.5% in 2010
The Land Registry’s latest House Price Index shows the average price of a home in England and Wales up 1.5% over the whole of 2010, although December marked the seventh consecutive month in which annual growth slowed.
The month saw a negative change of -0.2%, with the South West the region with the most significant fall, [...]
Mortgage approvals for house purchases slip 10%
For 2010 as a whole, house purchase mortgage approvals by the UK’s main High Street banks were down 10% on a year earlier, to fewer than 400,000, according to the British Bankers’ Association.
While the average value of house purchase approval fell slightly in December, to £143,300, the figure remained 1.6% higher than a year earlier.
Numbers [...]
UK house sales stabilise but outlook “mixed”
UK house sales stabilised at the end of 2010, but the outlook for the property market remains mixed, says the latest housing market survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
In the three months to December, the average number of completed sales per surveyor stood at 15.2 with transactions highest in the East Midlands [...]
Bovis completions up 5%
Bovis Homes completed 1,901 dwellings in 2010, of which 1,592 were private homes.
The figure is up 5% on 2009 and the group’s forward sales for 2011 stand at 420, which is consistent with the prior year, despite a lower number of active outlets (66 on average during 2010 versus 85 during 2009).
The housebuilder has [...]
Annual house price growth below inflation
Average house prices in England and Wales recorded a marginal fall of 0.2% in December, to £222,827, according to the LSL/Acadametrics House Price Index.
Over the whole of 2010, house price growth stood at 2.9%, compared to 5.3% in 2009.
However, regional disparities are widening, with annual growth significantly stronger in traditionally high-value areas such as London [...]
Barratt sales slip on mortgage restraints
Barratt Developments sold 4,832 homes during the second half of 2010, compared with 5,053 in the previous six month period, with underlying selling prices remaining stable.
However, private reservations per active site per week were down slightly to 0.39, reflecting weaker customer sentiment, and cancellation rates increased to 20.1% (H1: 17.8%).
Forward sales as at 31st December [...]
No autumn upturn for Persimmon
Persimmon has reported that it sold 9,384 homes in 2010, up slightly from a 2009 total of 8,976.
However, the housebuilder did not experience the usual level of upturn in sales during the autumn, with the situation compounded by the severe weather conditions at the beginning of the winter, reducing sales activity further.
The group, which includes [...]
December housing market activity improves
The number of homes sold in the UK in December was at its highest for three years, according to the latest property activity index from Agency Express.
The firm, which claims to be the UK’s biggest “For Sale” board contractor, reported a 26.7% dip compared to November, reflecting seasonal trends, but house sales were up 8.2% [...]
Hometrack: house prices down 1.6% in 2010
House prices in England and Wales fell by 0.4% during December, with 36% of postcodes recording declining prices, according to Hometrack.
Overall, the value of the average home ended 2010 down 1.6%, with 71% of the country seeing prices dip on an annual basis.
However, across 15% of postcodes (notably London and the South East) prices [...]
Nationwide: “anything is possible” as house prices gain 0.4%
UK house prices rose by 0.4% in December, having recorded declines in the previous two months, according to Nationwide’s latest house price index.
This month’s modest rise means that the value of the typical home ends 2010 with an “unremarkable” gain of 0.4%, as most price increases from the first half of the year were reversed [...]
Fewer long-term empty private homes
The number of long-term empty private homes in England has fallen for the first time in three years, according to the latest annual Empty Homes survey from Halifax.
As at April 2010, 295,519 homes had been vacant for more than six months, down 6% from a year earlier to the lowest level since 2007.
Empty dwellings accounted [...]
Nationwide: House Prices Now Less Than 10% Below Their 2007 Peak
- House prices increased by 0.5% month-on-month in May
- Annual rate of price inflation drops from 10.5% to 9.8%
- Prices up 12.2% since February 2009 trough
| Headlines | April 2010 | May 2010 |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly index * Q1 ’93 = 100 | 334.0 | 336.0 |
| Monthly change* | 1.1% | 0.5% |
| Annual change | 10.5% | 9.8% |
| Average price | £167,802 | £169,162 |
* 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
| Monthly % Change Seasonally Adjusted | 3 month on 3 month % change | Annual % Change | Average Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May-08 | -3.0 | -3.3 | -4.4 | 173,583 |
| Jun-08 | -1.1 | -4.3 | -6.3 | 172,415 |
| Jul-08 | -1.9 | -5.4 | -8.1 | 169,316 |
| Aug-08 | -2.2 | -5.4 | -10.5 | 164,654 |
| Sep-08 | -1.8 | -5.6 | -12.4 | 161,797 |
| Oct-08 | -1.4 | -5.4 | -14.6 | 158,872 |
| Nov-08 | -0.1 | -4.8 | -13.9 | 158,442 |
| Dec-08 | -2.5 | -4.2 | -15.9 | 153,048 |
| Jan-09 | -1.3 | -3.7 | -16.6 | 150,501 |
| Feb-09 | -1.5 | -4.4 | -17.6 | 147,746 |
| Mar-09 | 1.2 | -3.6 | -15.7 | 150,946 |
| Apr-09 | -0.3 | -2.5 | -15.0 | 151,861 |
| May-09 | 1.2 | -0.1 | -11.3 | 154,016 |
| Jun-09 | 1.0 | 1.1 | -9.3 | 156,442 |
| Jul-09 | 1.4 | 2.6 | -6.2 | 158,871 |
| Aug-09 | 1.4 | 3.2 | -2.7 | 160,224 |
| Sep-09 | 0.9 | 3.8 | 0.0 | 161,816 |
| Oct-09 | 0.6 | 3.5 | 2.0 | 162,038 |
| Nov-09 | 0.6 | 2.9 | 2.7 | 162,764 |
| Dec-09 | 0.6 | 2.3 | 5.9 | 162,103 |
| Jan-10 | 1.3 | 2.1 | 8.6 | 163,481 |
| Feb-10 | -1.0 | 1.7 | 9.2 | 161,320 |
| Mar-10 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 9.0 | 164,519 |
| Apr-10 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 10.5 | 167,802 |
| May-10 | 0.5 | 1.7 | 9.8 | 169,162 |
