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UK house prices

Zanet — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 10:53:09 +0000

Will Uk house prices fall or rise in the coming year ? What will the 2012 house market bring ?
We take a look at what the experts are saying and look to see whether the housing gloom is about to lift.

While the average house prices in the UK will have actually risen by 1.3pc by the end of 2011, with inflation currently at 5pc, property values are falling in real terms.

Rightmove expect UK House Prices to drop

Predictions for 2012 UK house prices

The Telegraph predicts 2012 will not see a revivial. They report “Inflation and the eurozone debt crisis will have a negative effect on house prices next year.”

This is Money’s property expert Simon Lambert speaks of Estate agents claiming of a stand-off between sellers and buyers. The sellers reluctant to cut prices and the buyers unwilling to pay over the odds. Home sellers must either have a desirable property to sell in an in-demand area or be willing to lower their expectations, if they want to get a sold sign up outside their house.

Rightmove report UK House prices will show uncertainty. 2012 will be just as challenging as they’ve been in 2011. Asking prices are expected to rise by a mere 2%. Inflation-adjusted house prices will continue to fall in 2012, or at best stand still.

Your Mortgage Decisions predict great variances in house price movement across the UK. With the south and in particular London and the home counties faring considerably better than northern England, Wales and Scotland. It would not surprise me to see some gains as significant as 5% to 10% within a commutable distance to London, as has been the case this year for pockets of desirable housing served well by schools, transport links and good community facilities such as leisure and retail. Other areas are likely to see a more benign outlook with a neutral to 5 to 10% decline in the areas of highest unemployment.

Capital Economics expect prices to decline by 5% in both 2012 and 2013.
UK House prices often follow the USA trend the following year. so while the UK doesnt have any exciting changes, The United States are predicting a better change. Newspapers in New York predict a positive outlook. Wall Street expect the U.S. economy to keep growing, albeit at a sluggish 2% annual rate but fast enough to avoid a recession. In the CFA’s survey, only 12% of respondents said they expect the U.S. economy to contract in 2012.

Phil and Kirsty – Location

Zanet — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 14:32:43 +0000

Don’t you just love Phil and Kirsty, and there back again for another new series.
Catch the new series of Location, Location, Location on Wednesdays at 8pm on Channel 4.

Phil and Kirsty, like a favourite Aunty and Uncle they almost row in front of the nation on the great show
Property experts Phil Spencer and Kirsty Allsop were asked for advice on beating the house price slump. They are famous for their down to earth approach and no nonsense understanding of the UK house market. Below are there Top 10 Tips for beating the house Price Crash.

Phil and Kirsty Top Location Location location Tips

Phil and Kirsty from Relocation Relocation

1. Take Your Time

The advice we’d give in this market is largely the same as we’d give in any market. If you’re selling your house, don’t rush into buying. Take your time, even rent for a few months while you look to make sure. Any purchase in this OR ANY market should be for the long term, so it’s important to get it right.

2. Sit Tight

Here is some good advice in a recession from Kirsty Allsop.
Don’t engage with the market if you don’t have to. Unless you HAVE to move house, sit tight and wait it out.

3. Get A Good Deal

Phil from Relocation Relocation suggest you haggle hard when buying – bear in mind the house may soon be worth less than you paid for it – the market always has troughs and peaks.

4. Make Money from a Room

Rent out a room in your house. If you are struggling to make repayments on your mortgage, consider taking in a lodger to lighten the load.

5. Get a Kerb Appeal

The biggest challenge as a seller is getting people through the door – pay close attention to the exterior of your property.

6. Be Realistic

Phil and Kirsty often speak of being realistic. It’s all relative – remember, when house prices fall, you may take a hit on your own sale, but you can make this up when buying as the drop hits the whole market.

7. Sort Your Mortgage –its Costing You

For most people, their mortgage is their biggest debt – and in a credit crunch you want to limit your debt as much as possible. If you’re on an interest only mortgage, lessen your chances of negative equity by changing to a repayment. Before you do anything, though, seek professional advice from an independent financial advisor.

8. Take Advantage Of Rate Cuts

If you are already on a repayment, consider if you can take advantage of recent interest rate cuts to pay a little bit more of the capital each month. The more you pay, the faster you run from negative equity – and the quicker you’ll own your home outright.

9. Look After Your Property

Even if it’s not with a new bathroom or kitchen – keeping paintwork fresh, boilers regularly serviced and gardens well maintained can work wonders. And it’s cheaper to fix little problems rather than wait until they’re big ones.

10. Look For Innovative Ways To Get A Good Deal

Kirsty Allsop suggests house swaps are a good way to beat the stale market conditions. And for many types of people, like first time buyers, key workers or those in social housing, there are government and commercial schemes to help you get on the property ladder.

UPDATE: It seems Phil and Kirsty are really on form in the latest series on Channel 4

10 Downing Street For Sale

Zanet — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 12:16:42 +0000

10 Downing Street isn’t for sale, but if it was…

With Right Move, Tepilo, Zoopla, Up my street or Find a property, we are a nosey bunch in the UK. If we aren’t buying property, we love to know what Mrs Jones paid for hers down the road. Or what the neighbours house looks like on an estate agents site. 10 Downing Street, colloquially known in the United Kingdom as “Number 10″, is the headquarters of Her Majesty’s Government and the official residence and office of the First Lord of the Treasury, an office now invariably held by the Prime Minister.

Just imagine if 10 Downing Street was for sale

So what if 10 Downing Street was for sale? well we know its not that simple if you want to move into that address and it certainly isn’t based on price alone. Though imagine for a moment if it was a simple as an asking price…

Zoopla recently valued the residential portion of 10 Downing Street, worked out under which PM value was lost and gained, calculated the stamp duty payable in April 2011 (at 5%, that’s £225K) if it was for sale on the open market, and identified and worked out the value of other 10 Downing Streets around the UK.

Here are their reported results for 10 Downing Street:

Gordon Brown currently worth a £4,574,831
Tony Blair when he left was worth £5,037,251
John Major £1,644,558
Margaret Thatcher £1,804,952

Zoopla also reports that property prices have risen since the last election in 2005 in each of the party leaders’ constituencies

by over 12% in David Cameron’s;
by just over 5% in Nick Clegg’s
by almost 19% in Gordon Brown’s

So there you have it, thanks to Zoopla we now know it’s not been the best property boom in recent times, which of course we knew already.

Chancellors housing market boost

Zanet — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 11:43:34 +0000

Did the Chancellors housing market boost give a small lift to the sector?

The Chancellor George Osborne’s Autumn Statement last week announced 35 transport initiatives that will boost a number of locations and thereby boost prices in the surrounding areas.

It may of been a slightly hidden benefit but it is expected to help boost the housing market in North Cambridge, North Buckinghamshire and North Oxfordshire and South London looks like finally getting the Northern Line Tube station as part of the Battersea Power Station redevelopment.Some are calling it the “Battersea buzz” and are seeing a large property price increase with anything from 10 to 20 per cent ahead seasonal prices.

More housing market boosts will come next year in 2012. The Chancellor is funding improved links to the M56 and A6 at Manchester Airport.

Improved transport infrastructure always boosts the house prices. It is always a main factor in the choice home buyers make if relocating. Additional benefits will be seen the M3 near Portsmouth will similarly enhance some employment hotspots.

Housing market boost

The Chancellors housing market transcript:

We can today give the go ahead around the country to 35 new road and rail schemes that support economic development.

The Chancellors housing market boost started in the North West.

He continued…

We will electrify the transpennine express between Manchester and Leeds, build the Manchester Airport and Crewe link roads and work with Merseyside to turn the vision of the Atlantic Gateway into reality.

In Yorkshire and the Humber, there will be new stations and new tram capacity – and we will halve the tolls on the Humber Bridge.

I want to pay tribute to my HFs the Members for Beverley and for Brigg and Goole for campaigning with other local MPs over many years to make this happen. Under this Government it has.

In the North East we will bring forward investment on the Tyne and Wear Metro.

In the Midlands, the A45, the A43, the A453 link, the Kettering Bypass, and the M1 and M6 will all be improved.

In the South West, the Bristol link road and the A380 bypass will go ahead.

And for families across that region facing the highest water charges in Britain, the Government will cut the household bills of all South West Water customers by £50 a year.

In the East of England, we will make immediate improvements to the A14.

In the South East, we will build a new railway link between Oxford, Milton Keynes and Bedford that will create an estimated 12,000 new jobs.

Start working on a new crossing of the Lower Thames.

Chancellors housing market boost continued with news on how he will explore all the options for maintaining the UK’s aviation hub status, with the exception of a third runway at Heathrow.

Right here in London we will work with the Mayor on options for other new river crossings, for example at Silvertown.

And we will support the extension of the Northern Line to Battersea in partnership with the private sector. This could bring 25,000 new jobs to the area.

Devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will get their Barnett share – and we’re working with them to improve the links between our nations, such as the M4 in South Wales and the overnight rail service to north of the border.

This all amounts to a huge commitment to overhauling the physical transport infrastructure of our nation.

What are your views on the Chancellors housing market boost? Let us know below.

Rightmove report 4 year drop

Zanet — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 11:56:08 +0000

The largest drop for 4 years has been reported this week. The asking price of homes being put up for sale has fallen by 3.1% in the past month, according to the property website Rightmove.

As a result of the economic uncertainty and concerns about the state of the eurozone, asking prices are reflecting a dramatic fall. The worst fall since December 2007. It could be due to would- be sellers postponing their marketing until the new year. The weekly supply of homes put on the market is now at the lowest since the aftermath of the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in 2008.

All 10 regions in England and Wales tracked by Rightmove showed falling asking prices in November, the first time in more than three years they have all declined together. Shipside said that it’s “no great surprise” that property owners looking for a sale “have had to accept a substantial haircut on their asking prices.” Nationally, values were up 1.2 percent from a year earlier in November.

It does provide a positive spin for those looking to pickup a property bargain.

Property price gap grows

Zanet — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 07:32:11 +0000

According to the Rightmove House Price Index this month, it found that UK average asking prices increased by 2.8% over the past month driven by strong price growth in the South.

lf you are looking to move to the north of the country from the South, the growing price gap will let you buy a lot more house for your money”.

The North/South price divide means that you can now buy two properties in the North for the price of one in South!

A real plus - draw a search

Rightmove’s House Price Index also found that asking prices in London reached a new record high.

The Rightmove House Index gives further details on the average asking price for a property in the UK increased by 2.8% over the past month to leave the average asking price for a UK property now at £239,672. This figure masks a two-tier market in which the price gap between the north of the country and the south has never been wider. Asking prices in the south (East Anglia, South East, South West and Greater London) increased by 4.7% over the past month but fell 0.7% in the north (East Midlands, West Midlands, Wales, North West, Yorks & Humber and North East), and average property prices in the south (£336,743) are now more than double those in the north (£164,347).

Do you think the North south divide will ever disappear in the UK. Is it due to several factors including the London commuter pull along with higher temperatures in the South?

Have your say on the property price gap below:

7 Essential Articles for Right Move users

Zanet — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 15:00:54 +0000

1. Is it possible to advertise for free on Rightmove?

We get asked this constantly for Right Move users. See why so many ask this question and the reasons why you can’t advertise directly on Rightmove, but there does seem to be some good alternatives to consider. So we take a look at other ways to advertise.

Should it be free to advertise on Rightmove

Read the full article on Right move Advertising here

2. How Right move users sell there house

A simple guide on what to do if you just want to simply sell on Rightmove – we’ve sold several properties using Rightmove and share our experience with you. Giving you confidence and tips such as the importance of knowing whether your estate agent belong to Ombudsman for Estate Agents . Trouble is Right Move doesnt have anything other than the high street Estate agent representing them, so who can you turn to if you have a question?

Rightmove estate agents shop front

Read our full article on selling using Rightmove here

3. Right Move Phone App versus Zoopla’s

So who has the top phone app?

Do Zoopla users or Right move users have the best app? We take a look at where the Right move App could improve and whether it is as good, better or worse than Zoopla’s iphone app.

We put Zoopla’s app through its paces to see if it’s a match for the main king of property Rightmove and find some interesting results over several tests.

Zoopla Vs Rightmove Round 1

Read our full article on Zoopla Vs Rightmove App here

4. Is RightMove the Property Top Trump?

We had some fun discovering why and whether Rightmove is the Top Trump – Discover what makes it successful and so strong against the other competitiors such as Find a location, Zoopla, Home and Prime Location.

The guide is based on thefacts that we have known for a few years that Rightmove is the Top Dog, the one to beat, the one to trump. We now see where the others can catchup and even challenge Rightmoves title

Super Trumps - RightMove.co.uk

Read the full article on whether Right move users are getting a top trump

5. Rightmove says property is on market for 94 days

So why is it 94 days for Right move users to sell? How does that effect the right time to add your property onto the market?

We also we mention one other issue you may of not taken into account before choosing the best time to enter your property onto the housing market in this article.

Rightmove reports that with only 98 days left until Christmas - Market Now

Read the full article on how the average time for sale on Rightmove may effect your decisions

6. FindaProperty App vs Rightmove App

Is the FindaProperty App better than the Rightmove App. Right move users will see which app works best. See the challenges against one if its biggest competitiors and reveal some useful tips on the Right Move App

FindaProperty vs Rightmove

Read the full article on the Rightmove App here

7. Rightmove improves property listings

Right Move users love the fact its the biigest. But is it the best? With the largest property listing on the web, sometimes they don’t always get things right at Right Move. We take a look at some results from a recent survey. It revealed that potential property buyers complained that often the properties viewed in the search results were often out of date. So a team of developers have now improved the quality of the results. Take a look at why it was adjusted and decide whether you feel it helps when reviewing the results.

Rightmove now provides an improved property listing

Read our full article on the Right Move property results improvement

We hope you enjoyed our review of some useful articles produced by this site over the past year – of course if you are a Right move user and have any other tips we have missed we would love to hear from you.

Great Tips on House Buying

Zanet — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 08:49:34 +0000

We all love tips and often hear potential buyers asking us, do you have any really great tips for buying the right house? what do you do when you want to really get an advantage over the other buyers? Are there any obvious tips or trciks that i may of overlooked? Well today we have put together a few tips that may prove valuable. Many are obvious, but there may be one or two you just forgot about or were pleased of the reminder, so may we present to you Your Right Move’s tips on house buying:

When house viewing have a plan

When viewing a house it is always a good idea to have a plan of what you want to find out from the visit. Have this written down on paper, in case you get carried away and forget to ask some important questions.

Make sure you do actually want to live there for some time. Buying property should also have the idea that you will live there for some time. check out the area at night time, in the day time, during rush hour, just try and live the area as best as you can, so that you don’t uncover any shocks once you’ve moved in.

Rightmove expect UK House Prices to drop

How to negotiate a good price

Its always best to negotiate in person if at all possible, but often with Estate agents serving as the middle man this will be done on the phone. Never give away your overly keen interest as this may make it very difficult to keep the price down if they know you are prepared to pay the world for the property. Let them know that you have viewed plenty of homes, and that you understand the property market and how much the home should be worth. Play a bit hard to get and don’t rush into making an offer; take the time to think about it. Stay polite, however stressed or angry you feel. Aggression will not get you anywhere. Remember that if a seller has two equal offers, they will probably go for the buyers with whom they feel most attracted to.

Keep in mind the importance of location.

There is a reason why Phil and kirsty called there successful Channel 4 programme, Location, Location, Location. Finding the dream house is always great. But what about your dream location? Does it contain all your essentials, like a local groceries, schools etc. Don’t just focus on the property; focus on the bigger picture. Make sure the local area is equipped for your requirements. – You could check out the location on fixmystreet.com. This site gives you a breakdown of reported issues in the location. Flooding, Potholes and sunken drains, street lighting and overhanging trees – its all on there. Of course a proper environmental search should be carried out as part of the legal requirement

How to approach the right figure to offer

What clues have you picked up during the viewing? Did the vendor reveal they are desperate to sell as they have seen a property they love. If they need to sell quickly, they will be more likely to accept a lower sum than the asking price. Has the property been for sale for months? If the seller is having difficulty selling the house, they are more likely to accept a lower price. Check whether the asking price has dropped since it went on the market by accessing the history on rightmove.co.uk or zoopla.co.uk

7 things to consider before you extend

Zanet — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 09:39:58 +0000

This popular article has been requested again – so we have added it to this weeks updates – 7 things to consider before you extend

So you have looked at what the housing market will give you if you move to the ideal home and realised that its surely more cost effective to take your current home and extend to get the living space needed. In most cases this is certainly worthy of consideration.

But its worth being aware of potential dangers that may lurk under the soil of your plot. Today we investigate 10 areas that you would do well to consider before the diggers come in. We hope this saves you from discovering concealed horrors before its too late.

1. Know you permitted development rights

If you are at this stage, you have already a clear idea of how far you want to extend. It’s worth knowing your permitted development rights and other limitations before you get carried away on designs. Contact your local council for the exact guidance, but most properties can gain between 3 or 4 meters on the back of the house. There are lots of other variants to take into account depending on land area, conservation areas etc, so do ask .

2. Original foundations

You may be surprised to find your existing foundations are very shallow and you wonder how your house has stood for so many years. This is usually dependent on the age of your property. So dig a shallow hole next to the outside of your house, just to make sure this isn’t going to prove a major issue.

7 things to consider on an extension

3. Trees and shrubs

Assuming you don’t live in a conservation area then lopping and chopping nearby trees is normally a trouble free issue. It’s worth noting how close the large st trees are to the area you intend to extend to. Normally the height of a tree gives you an idea of the length of the roots.

4. Flooding and streams.

Is ther the potential for flooding in your area. Could their be a stream hiding under the top surface of the area you are digging? Note any areas that seem to have a high water table, as this could prove to be a major pain. Contact the Environement Agency if you have any questions on flooding in the area and they should be able to allay your fears.

5. Gases

All sites should be checked for potential gas threats such as Radon and Methane. Methane gas can sometimes appear from old cesspits. Unless your area was a recent landfill, then it’s unliekly to be an issue. If you have a Local Authority search, this will bring up any potential threats.

6. Services

If you are planning an extension, then you may need to consider moving your electricity, gas or water meters. Especially if you are extending your kitchen, the services are all an essential part of your planning. So quick location of where the services enter your property will save a lot of hassle of digging through pipes and leaks later in the process.

7. Subsoil

Its important that you know what is below the surface. Do you have chalk, clay, sand, gravel or peat? A geological map of your area may not provide the accuracy and detail of your property, so the only way to really discover the truth is to dig a trial pit.

No related posts.

Rightmove predict rise

Zanet — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 06:59:55 +0000

Rightmove announced yesterday that 2011 would show a small rise in UK property prices.

It seems the London property market is continueing to feed a North /South divide and thereby holding prices from falling.

Rightmove predict property price rise

Rightmove announced, “The average house price climbed by 0.6% during June to hit £240,394, the highest ever price for this time of year. Rightmove says that gains of 8.1% in the first half are expected to ebb away in the remainder of the year in line with the seasonal trend seen last year.”

With mortgage approvals still a lot lower than normal, any rise in property will be very marginal.

Do you agree, or do you think Rightmove are too pessimistic?