Your Right Move » Housing

House prices set to Rocket or Plummet

Zanet — Sun, 09 May 2010 10:01:51 +0000

A very interesting report in the Times looked at how things may turn out in the coming months for UK property with the latest political changes.

The articles expressed that one of the greatest challenges the new coalition Government faces is to make sure that pessimistic predictions about the housing market do not come true. Allowing prices to plummet would be catastrophic economic policy. If the market falls by significantly more than 10 per cent our banking industry could once more find itself in difficulties, triggering a negative spiral of new lending restrictions and further house price falls that would put the economic recovery in great jeopardy. Nor should we forget that falling prices would trap tens of thousands more borrowers in negative equity.

Property Set to Rocket or Plummet after Hung Parliament

The replies were even more interesting based on whether an extended period of stable prices may allow incomes to catch up with valuations or whether a return to an era when houses are viewed primarily as places to live rather than speculative investments. Here are the comments below….

“One of the greatest challenges the new coalition Government faces is to make sure that pessimistic predictions about the housing market do not come true.” Why? What happened to “you can’t buck the market”? Why should the Government prop up excessive house prices?” – Ned Ludd

Not sure I agree when you say falls in excess of 10% could cause the banks problems:
Firstly, the net lending figures tells us something interesting – people have been steadily paying down their mortgages, therefore increasing equity. Secondly, the average deposit for the past few years has been around 25%. See where this is going? The banks are positioning themselves very comfortably for the coming falls. Also, whilst keeping house prices artificially high may have suited a government trying to get re-elected, a lower starting point would suit any incoming government. Anyone buying recently will find the next few years quite stressful I think.” – Mike Williams

“We are approching the end of the “suckers rally”in land and property prices.This rally in theory cauld continue until interest rates start creeping up due to inflation or the end of the banks monetary policy that is supporting the economy some which should happen at the end of this year or the beginning of next.How ever interest rates cauld rise alot sooner due to the contagian of delinguat soverign debt in europe that WILL hit us at some time meaning interest rates will have to rise subsantially and speedily to defend the pound against a down ward spirral,thus pulling down the last prop holding the property market up.The shake out has not finished, this will be a dramatic colapse.To prevent this cycle happening again we need to tax the land owners/free holders and not the wage earners and savers!Buy to let investers have destroyed the hopes and asperations of many people.They are the new land barrons!!! Tax them out of existance!” – Rousel Duke

“The house price bubble created during Brown’s era of fiscal imprudence that led to the collapse of the banks is over. The bubble Brown encouraged to power our economy has left the nation with the highest level of debt in decades. The subject matter of that bubble, house prices, have yet to reflect economic reality. Prices are grossly distorted against any measure you care to name including wages, ability to borrow under the new rules that eschew “creative financing,” jobs and the unemployment trend, rentable values and the global trend of house price collapse. House prices in this country will collapse and they have a long way to go before reaching a viable level. I expect to see further falls of between 40-60% over the course of the next 3 years.” – Real Istbear

So what do you think?

Are prices still greatly inflated and we are about to find out?

Will interest rates dramatically sneak up over the coming months?

Will the next few years be really tough on new time buyers?

Village of Tescos

Zanet — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 11:40:44 +0000

Tescos announced plans to build four reported villages based around there own store. Its been echoed around for some time that the massive supermarket would move into the housing market. This has now raised concerns of the retailer abusing it’s power and knowing too much about it’s customers.

Village of Tescos - Every Little Helps!

Their is no doubt though that there is rightful concern that the biggest supermarket in Britain is turning into a power business as it recently announced a record £3.4bn in profits to the city.

While Tescos claim that it will provide more work for the economy, others are concenred that they will end up owning a to large share of several markets and thus take away the importance of fair competition. They would know everything about individuals as they not only shopped, but insured, banked, mortgaged, and now virtually worked and lived under the Tescos umbrella.

The New Economics Foundation think tank reported “There’s a sense that they are using their market power to dominate aspects of the economy, there is a need for more affordable housing but there is a danger with Tesco’s moves. If they provide the mortgage, if they act as estate agent, if they provide a credit card, if they sell you a house, they will end up with more personal information about you than the Government.”

A Tesco report denied they would abuse its power or “suggestions they were building “mini-villages” was “going too far”.

Property Price Extremes

Zanet — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 11:09:10 +0000

Last week we revealed the most expensive street in Britain as being Chester Square in London, where the average property is worth £6,596,000. It is the second consecutive year that Chester Square has been in the number one spot and the most recently sold property in the area went for £7 million.

Fernhill Near Cardiff - Extremely Low Prices

So what is the cheapest street in Britain? Well no one wants the label cheapest, so officially its Britain’s most affordable street. A street in Wales is Britian’s most affordable location with the average home costing just £28,600. Fernhill, in Mountain Ash, Wales was the cheapest road for the second year running.

Fernhill, in Mountain Ash, Wales – average property is worth £28,600
Chester Square London – average property is worth £6,596,000
Thats a downsizing difference in average property price of £6,567,400

In effect you could afford 230 properties in Fernhill in exchange for one in Chester Square!

Fernhill in the Mid Glamorgan village of Mountain Ash, near Cardiff, has remained the lowest-priced street amid recent low sales and has an average home value of £28,600, up from £24,640 last year.

At least the price has increased since last year by around £4000. Mouseprice said all regions had seen their average rise since last year as the property market has improved.

Pre-election house prices up – Rightmove

Zanet — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 11:23:06 +0000

Rightmove the largest UK property web site reports that house prices continue to rise. With the election approaching this has not dappened the market in any way. Asking prices in April increased by 2.6 per cent on the average property, thats almost £6000 compared with March. Prices are running 6 per cent higher than in the same month of 2009.

Rightmove does add some caution though. “The shortage of properties widely credited as a key factor in recent price rises is starting to ease. More than 25,000 properties have been going on the market each week for the last two months, the longest sustained period at such levels since August 2008. Estate agencies’ unsold stock levels are also increasing, rising from 65 to 68 between March and April. Also if the General Election result is a hung parliament, the uncertainty could undermine the boost in activity which normally follows an election”.

right move stats

“As far as the housing market is concerned, any election result is better than no result,” Miles Shipside, the commercial director at Rightmove, said. “In the even of a hung parliament, the market is likely to go into suspended animation until greater certainty emerges.”

Some would debate whether there is a shortage of properties. If asking prices continue to rise, all but the most popular locations are building themselves up for some of the gains to be lost later in the year. May will provide a lot more answers to the on going and ever changing views of the Uk property market.

Can Tepilo remain free?

Zanet — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 11:52:25 +0000

How can Tepilo remain free?

Why can a web site like Tepilo, operate as an on-line estate agent for the grand cost of zero? Normally you would expect to see some small print or a catch in such an arrangement. we looked into it in greater detail and were suprised to find that there really are no catches.

Can Tepilo remain free?

With its small cost of running and maintenance the site will probably have to have some form of advertising. As the Tepilo brand grows and traffic increases it seems that the kindest way to cover costs would be an advert here or there. Most users would be overly happy to accomodate such adverts in exchange for the free services.

Tepilo web site states “We plan to run the site for some time with little or no “on site” advertising, and keeping the offering free for you. We need to establish ourselves, get the site finished and get our message out there. In the future we may look for some choice sponsors to help finance the site, but we are determined not to pester you with offers, adverts or spam”.

Looking forward, Tepilo have some exciting partnerships to announce and plan on remaining true to there word of keeping everything free.

This unique offering may well change the way you sell your next property. Read our full report on how you can upload your own properties for free, without the need for getting an estate or letting agent involved and saving you thousands in the process.

Good to see that on a detailed look Tepilo is exactly what it claims, a great free offering.

Halifax says house prices over 5 percent rise

Zanet — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 11:45:56 +0000

New report – Halifax says house prices over 5 percent rise!

Housing market confidence its currently at its highest since recession started a few years back. According to the data supplied from the Halifax, they recently indicated that house prices rose by 1.1 per cent last month to an average of £168,521 and have increased by 5.2 per cent in the past year.

Interestingly the property web site Zoopla.co.uk showed that 81 per cent of people believe house prices will increase in the next six months, with the average rise expected to be 5.7 per cent.

Halifax says house prices over 5 percent rise

Confidence is growing

This means confidence has grown in the UK housing market and is the highest it has been since the start of the recession according to an online source of UK property market information.

The public’s confidence in the future performance of the housing market is great to see and will provide continued confidence for future growth and recovery as is already shown in the Halifax figures.

With the looking general election there will be a lot more certainty about what the state of play is for future months to come in the UK property market.

Property – Stable in 2011 peak 2014

Zanet — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 12:39:42 +0000

Stable in 2011 peak 2014

If you paid top value in 2007, it will only be around 2013 that house prices in England will climb close to the same value, and rising above during 2014.

Oxford Economics recently prepared a report for the National Housing Federation. It is suggested that house prices will fall throughout 2010, with stabilisation coming in 2011.

National Housing Federation

The pattern is similar to the nineties according to the high street lenders.

The Nationwide Building Society report:
“It took until the first quarter of 1998 to regain the third-quarter 1989 peak”.

The Halifax report:
“Prices rose above their January 1990 peak in November 1997″.

It could just be too much is being read into this short-term trend, amid evidence that the flow has slowed, if not reversed, in the recession. People have to live somewhere, so if not enough homes are being built, and then housing will become more expensive, thus the price increase seen in the past.

Boiler Scrappage Scheme

Zanet — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 13:10:57 +0000

Boiler Scrappage Scheme: Are You Eligible?

It was recently announced that the governement will provide grants under the Boiler Scrappage Scheme. This means over 3 million homes that have inefficient boilers can now be givne an incentive to change to an efficient one.

How much grant with they give me if i use the Boiler Scrappage Scheme?

The scheme outlines the government is offering up to 125,000 households financial help – up to £400 – with upgrading them to a high efficiency A-rated one or a renewable heating technology.

How do i know if i qualify for the Boiler Scrappage Scheme?

But are you eligible for the governement grant? Well the new scheme is open to householders in England living in an owned or privately rented home.

The criteria is also based on age. If you are under 60 you can only apply for the scheme if the boiler you are scrapping is in working order and is the main boiler used to heat the home. If you are 60 or over you can apply for the scheme regardless of whether the boiler you are scrapping is in working order. However, it still needs to be the main boiler used to heat the home.

G-rated Boiler Below 70% efficiency

How do i know if i have a G-rated boiler?

Look to see if it has a permanent pilot light. If it does, it’s likely to be just that. If it is gas-fired and more than 15 years old, or if it’s oil-fired and over 25 years old, it’s likely to be eligible. If you’re still not sure, you can check the boiler’s make and model at the Government’s Boiler Efficiency Database.

What next if the above applies?

If you’d like to register in the boiler scrappage scheme, you’ll need to email the Energy Savings Trust at boilerscrappage@est.org.uk or call the Act On CO2 advice line on 0800 512012. You’ll need to have full details of the boiler, the installer, the type of boiler you plan to replace the old one with and confirmation that you’ve received a quote from your installer.

Most people are probably not able to afford a new boiler that have a G-rated one. So the common view is this will have a very limited take up. If you do qualify for the scrappage scheme, please let us know by commenting below.

Rightmove Houses

Zanet — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 13:51:12 +0000

Of all the rightmove houses…..

Rightmove or not so right move

I’ve seen advertised, this one must take the best award. Not only the cheapest but also the most likely to disappear with global warming. It actually was put on the rightmove.co.uk site as a house under offer as you can see from the pictures.

The site had internal shots as well as plenty of outside views. It asks punters to buy the house now, before the property market hots up!

Most one bedroom detached houses are fetching anything from £100,000 where as this has an asking price of £50.

The house claims it has a built In fridge freezer, its fully air conditioned an ice white exterior & interior with a high eco friendly build

The igloo house was also featured on ebay and was still taking bids last time i looked.

Full description of the rightmove home:

Tenure: Freehold

The property was constucted by local builders Marden, Morgan, Titmuss & Ellis! The property was developed in Farmer Trunkfields field in the heart of Bodle Street Green.

There is currently an application for planning permission going through but we are waiting to hear back from local man Jack Frost !!!

Igloo for sale

BUY NOW BEFORE THE PROPERTY MARKET HOTS UP !!!

The house was built from fresh, crisp white sussex snow.

It stands approx. 5’10″ in height with one entrance.

For sale sign

Plenty of freezer space

Rightmove screenshot

Average buyer priced out of UK housing market in 2010

Zanet — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 11:59:24 +0000

2010 may well be the year the average buyer is priced out of the UK housing market

The credit crunch has made it difficult for genuine buyers to get access to really cheap mortgages. Plus, there will be more stock coming on to the market which should reduce the pace of house price increases. House price affordability has started falling for the first time since the slump in property values, meaning that prices are now once again moving out of reach of the average buyer.

The affordability of UK property market has been falling since the June 09 and surveys reveal Uk house prices have once again started outpacing the increase in the average family’s disposable income, meaning that the best opportunities for good value property have almost disappeared. There will be some bargains in the £1,000,000 plus propertites and farm land properties, all beyond the average buyer. See our article UK Property in 2010

The findings would have seemed highly unlikely at the beginning of 2009, when house prices were tumbling and past experience suggested that it would take some years for the property market to find its feet again. However, the combination of record low interest rates and a series of Government programmes to support homeowners have helped prices to turn around far quicker than expected.
In a study to be published on Monday, the Centre for Economics and Business Research is expected to predict that house price growth will continue next year – albeit at a slower pace than in 2009, with property prices finishing the year between 2pc and 4pc higher than today. It will also predict that by the end of 2012, house prices will be around 15pc higher than today.

Estate agents are claiming they have seen the boost from disposable income and low rates, but there’s not much to see what could drive prices much higher in 2010.
Its unlikely that we will see the scale of house price declines as in recent years though.