Property Investment News and Analysis from Dominic Farrell.
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View Article  UK's mortgage market 'still weak'

Despite recent figures from the Bank of England (BoE) indicating a rise in mortgage approvals last month, the market remains weak, it has been suggested.

According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), the statistics are still low compared with previous levels.

The BoE data showed that mortgage approvals for ...   more »

View Article  House Prices Could Rise This Year

The house price trend is now pointing upwards, according to Nationwide, and the average value could end the year higher than it started it. Do you expect prices to continue rising or are we merely seeing a blip on the market? Sign in to join the debate.

Nationwide says that ...   more »

View Article  UK rent rise

Latest research from LSL Property Services shows rents rising in June, for the first time in three months...

As a result, yields rose to an average 5.1 per cent last month, reaching their highest point in five years.

Average rents increased 1per cent, to £649, compared with May but remained ...   more »

View Article  Lack of buy-to-let mortgages 'holding back investors'

Landlords are being prevented from purchasing properties due to a lack of available buy-to-let mortgages, according to Paragon Mortgages.

In its latest PRS Trends Report, it suggested that 43 per cent of landlords questioned reported that a lack of finance is the main obstacle preventing them from expanding their property ...   more »

View Article  Property prices down 3.2%, claims Zoopla

The average property price in England has declined 3.2% to £207,020 since January, according to Zoopla.co.uk.

This compares to the 11.97% decline reported in the second half of last year, according to the figures from the portal, which bought Thinkproperty.com earlier this month and which remains locked in talks about ...   more »

View Article  Mortgage approvals hit 15 month high

Mortgage approvals by UK banks hit a 15 month high in June, fuelling hopes of a property market recovery, according to the British Bankers’ Association.

A total of 35,235 mortgages were approved for house purchase last month, bettering May’s number of 31,919. Approvals were up by 65 per cent compared ...   more »

View Article  Banks 'approving more mortgages'

Mortgage approvals by the major banks increased to a 15-month high in June, according to the British Bankers' Association (BBA).

Some 35,235 mortgages were approved for house purchases in June, up from 31,919 the previous month, the BBA said.

The figures reflected the banks' increased ability to lend and was ...   more »

View Article  Bank unanimous on rate decision

The Bank of England's interest rate setters voted unanimously to hold interest rates at the record low of 0.5% earlier this month.

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) also agreed to maintain its £125bn quantitative easing (QE) programme.

Minutes of the committee's July meeting showed it expected growth data for the ...   more »

View Article  Long-term fixed rate mortgages come to an end

The long-term fixed rate mortgage market has come to an end, as Manchester Building Society withdraws its 30-year fixed rate product.

Now, according to Moneyfacts.co.uk, the longest period which a borrower can fix their mortgage for is 15 years.

In July 2007, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that longer term ...   more »

View Article  Summer rise in mortgage lending

The total amount of UK mortgage lending rose sharply in June compared with the previous month, according to lenders.

The amount lent by members of the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) reached £12.3bn in June, up from £10.5bn a month earlier.

However, the rise was mainly the result of the ...   more »

View Article  Tracker mortgages offer lowest rates

Tracker mortgages, which are traditionally attractive when interest rates are falling, are starting to offer better value to borrowers than some fixed deals even though the base rate is at a historical low.

The sharp increases to fixed rates in recent weeks mean many borrowers have missed the opportunity to ...   more »

View Article  Over half mortgage brokers want FSA to regulate buy-to-let

Just over half of all mortgage brokers believe buy-to-let should be regulated by the FSA, according to new research from Exact mortgage specialists.

The research showed that two out of every five brokers said at least 90 per cent of their BTL clients were amateur landlords. Nearly two-thirds of brokers ...   more »

View Article  UK commercial property values drop 44% from peak

British commercial property markets have recorded the shallowest fall since August 2007, at -0.9%, according to June’s IPD UK Monthly Index.

But the all property peak-to-trough now stands at -44.1%, while the 12-month change in capital values is -30.8%.

Over this two-year period, the nature of this property recession has ...   more »

View Article  London house prices 'continuing to fall'

House prices in the capital are continuing to fall despite a nationwide improvement in the annual rate of decline, official figures have shown.

Prices in the region have dropped by 16.3% during the past year, while most of the UK has witnessed a slight improvement in the rate of price ...   more »

View Article  Economy 'to dampen house prices'

The sluggish UK economy is likely to mean that house prices will not see any "meaningful" recovery for some time, two separate surveys suggest.

There will be no "sustained" upturn until mortgages become more available, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) says.

Meanwhile PricewaterhouseCoopers has warned further price falls ...   more »

View Article  Bank holds base rate at 0.5%

The Bank of England has held base rate at 0.5% for the fourth month in a row, while continuing with its £125bn programme of quantitative easing.

Purchases of £112bn have been made under this facility since its use for monetary policy purposes was first announced after the Monetary Policy Committee’s ...   more »

View Article  House prices down again in June

House prices fell by 0.5% in June, according to Halifax's house price index published this week, taking the average cost of a home down to £157, 713. House price inflation was still down by 1.9% in the second quarter of this year, though this is the smallest fall recorded since ...   more »

View Article  Nationwide offers 125% mortgages

Nationwide says 'negative equity' mortgage will only be available in special circumstances

Mortgages allowing people to borrow up to 125% of a property's value are making a surprise comeback after Nationwide launched a deal aimed at homeowners trapped in negative equity who are keen to move house.

Britain's biggest building ...   more »

View Article  Financing in housing market improving

LONDON (Reuters) - Lending activity has picked up in the country's troubled housing market, with more financing becoming available for higher loan-to-value transactions, Treasury minister Paul Myners said Tuesday.

"There is an increase in the lending activity," Myners told parliament's Treasury Committee, citing data from the Bank of England.

"There ...   more »

View Article  House price slide hits recovery hopes

European house prices fell more quickly in the first three months of this year than even in the fourth quarter of 2008 when global recession struck, a trend that looks set to dim the region’s hopes for economic recovery.

   more »
View Article  Tracker mortgages 'may become more costly'

Although they may be attractively priced currently, tracker mortgages could become more costly over coming months.

This is according to moneysupermarket.com, which pointed out that the UK's base rate of interest is predicted to rise this year.

It said that, while many trackers are now cheaper than their fixed-rate counterparts, ...   more »

View Article  Interim regime for property sale and rent back begins today in UK

A new interim regime for landlords that operate property sale and rent back businesses comes into force in the UK today.

SRB landlords and companies have one month to submit an application to the Financial Services Authority for permission to continue their business activities as full regulation kicks in.

Under ...   more »