Tag Archives: asia
Research suggests UK home owners over 50 with a mortgage could get a better deal
One in three home owners in the UK aged over 50 still have a mortgage and many have never tried to renegotiate for a better deal, new research shows. Mortgagees in this age group have still got around £50,000 to pay and one in 14 think they have been prevented from moving their mortgage to a more competitive deal because of their age. The research by the Saga Equity Release Advice Service also shows that of those home owners in their 70s who still have a mortgage on average they have £40,000 to pay. While many of those in their early 50s still have years of working life to chip away at their debt, around one in seven people in their 70s are faced with having to use their weekly pension to pay off what’s owed instead of using it to enjoy their retirement as they had planned. Saga says that shopping around for a new mortgage could help people pay it off quicker but one in 10 over 50s say they are concerned about their lenders maximum borrowing age and it appears they are right to be worried as 7% say they have been prevented from moving their mortgage to a more competitive deal because of their age. ‘Millions of older homeowners have found themselves abandoned by mortgage lenders and stuck in uncompetitive deals because of the unfair age restrictions that many lenders have in place,’ said Alex Edmans, head of retirement at Saga Personal Finance. ‘If these people had access to a better deal they wouldn’t have to pay as much back each month which would leave them with more money to enjoy their retirement. For those in retirement struggling to meet their monthly mortgage costs it may be worth considering a lifetime mortgage to help ease the burden of the monthly repayments,’ he explained. ‘This may not be suitable for all, so it is well worth speaking with a specialist adviser, who would consider all alternatives and review whether any state benefits could help provide some relief. It is also extremely important that people discuss their options with their family or loved ones and we advise our customers to do this before taking out a lifetime mortgage,’ he added. Continue reading
Property sales in Canada up slightly month on month, latest data shows
Residential sales in Canada increased slightly by 0.3% month on month in August and transactions were up 4% compared to a year ago, the latest index shows. The data from the Canadian Real Estate Association also shows that the number of newly listed homes for sale increased by 0.5% while prices are up 8.7% year on year but this drops to 4.2% when Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto are taken out of the calculation. ‘August marked the fourth month in a row for strong and stable national sales activity, While home prices increased in British Columbia and in the Greater Toronto area, they have been holding fairly steady in many other parts of the country for some time now,’ said CREA President Pauline Aunger. The figures also shows that prices continue to rise in Ontario and British Columbia, where listings are either in short supply or heading in that direction. August also provided early evidence that modest price growth is re-emerging in some markets in Quebec and New Brunswick. ‘The continuation of low interest rates is supporting home sales and price trends, and is likely to keep doing so for some time,’ said Gregory Klump, CREA’s chief economist. Actual activity in August was up 4% from the same month last year and it was the third highest August sales figure on record after 2005 and 2007, and 6.6% above the 10 year average for August. Actual sales were up from year ago levels in a little over 60% of all local markets, led by the lower mainland region of British Columbia and the Greater Toronto Area. Sales in Calgary continued to post the largest year on year declines after having run near record levels there last year. The number of months of inventory, regarded as an important measure of the balance between housing supply and demand, was 5.6 on a national basis at the end of August, unchanged from the previous three months and holding at a three year low. Year on year price growth picked up in August for all home types tracked by the index with the exception of townhouse/row units. Two storey single family homes continue to post the biggest year on year price rise at 8.85% followed by single storey single family homes at 6.09%, townhouse/row units at 4.29% and apartment units up 3.08%. Year on year price growth varied among housing markets tracked by the index. Greater Vancouver with growth of 11.96% and Greater Toronto up 9.99%, continue to post by far the biggest year on year price increases. By comparison, year on year price growth in the Fraser Valley was 7% while Victoria and Vancouver Island recorded 5% growth. Prices in Calgary were flat on a year on year basis, the first month since September 2011 of no annual price growth while prices in Saskatoon also ran roughly even with year ago levels. Elsewhere, home prices were up from August 2014 levels by 1.5% in Ottawa but fell by… Continue reading
Lending for UK buyers sees growth, especially for first time buyers
House purchase lending in the UK increased by 9% in July compared to the same time last year with the economic outlook allowing more people to enter the property market, according to the latest data. The figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders show that first time buyers saw a month on month increase by volume and by value in activity compared to June and a year on year rise compared to July 2014. Home mover lending saw larger monthly and annual increases than first time buyers by volume and by value but home owner remortgage activity saw a slight dip month on month but substantial increases when compared to the same month in 2014. Buy to let continues to grow year on year and month on month, mainly driven by buy to let remortgage activity, the CML data also shows. ‘The market has shown steady growth in house purchase and buy-to-let over the past few months with general improvements in economic factors across the UK allowing for more people to enter the property market,’ said Paul Smee, director general of the CML. ‘This positive direction of travel going into the autumn months reinforces our recent revised forecasts that lending levels should continue to grow gradually over the rest of the year after a subdued beginning of the year,’ he added. House purchase lending in the UK saw its third consecutive month on month growth by volume and by value in July. This was also the second month that volumes and values increased compared to the same month in 2014. As previously reported, UK gross lending in July totalled £21.7 billion, up 8% on June and 12% up on July last year. Overall in July, the value of home owner loans for house purchase accounted for 56% of gross lending, while remortgage activity accounted for 24%. The rise in the number of loans for house purchase in July was driven by both first time buyers and home movers. However, the increase in volume and value terms for home movers was much stronger than for first time buyers. This was the highest monthly lending level by volume since November 2007, and by value the highest monthly level since October 2007. Nevertheless, first time buyers took up 45% of total house purchase lending, which continues to make up a larger proportion of activity than pre-crisis levels when it made up as little as 30% of the number of loans for house purchases. Buy to let as a proportion of total lending was 18% in July. It was the highest monthly first time buyer lending level by volume and value since August 2007. The proportion of first time buyer gross household monthly income in July to service the capital and interest rate payments of their mortgage rose slightly from 18.3% in June to 18.5%. This is still lower than in July 2014 when it was 19.5%, and much lower than… Continue reading
