Tag Archives: london
Gazumping is back in the UK with buyers in Brighton most affected
Brighton leads the way as the gazumping capital of Britain with 34.9% of residents losing out in this way, new research has found. As if getting a foot on the property ladder wasn’t already hard enough for some, the danger of being gazumped is now becoming a reality again for property buyers, according to a study by online estate agent eMoov. It found that on average across the UK some 22% have experienced the turmoil of being gazumped which can leave prospective buyers out of pocket and back to square one in the buying process. In the London market gazumping is over the national average with 31.9% in the capital have come within touching distance of a purchase before it was snatched from their grasp. The tactic of sealed bidding, particularly rife in the capital, provides the ideal environment for potential gazumpers. Outside of the South East the average drops from 22% to 18%. Birmingham figures show 27% of property buyers in the area have been gazumped with Sheffield at 22%, Bristol at 21%, Leeds and Nottingham at 20%. Although gazumping is not a new concept it has become a more regular occurrence across the country. The research also found that the higher the price of the property, the more likely you are to be gazumped. Of those that had been previously gazumped 27% were over properties of £500,000 or above. This dropped to 25% for properties valued between £200,000 and £500,000 and a further 6% for properties under £200,000. ‘It is one of those things in the current structure of property purchasing unfortunately. Buyers that have displayed honest interest in a property only to be let down by owners with pound signs in their eyes, often encouraged by traditional estate agent looking to increase his fee percentage,’ said Russell Quirk, the firm’s chief executive officer. Liverpool was the least affected area of England for gazumping at just 13%, however this doesn’t necessarily put an end to unethical behaviour during the buying process. ‘If these markets cool off too much, we could see gazundering coming back in. This is a tactic in areas with little demand where the buyer calls up just before the exchange of contracts and demands to pay less,’ explained Quirk. Continue reading
UK house prices back on track after September dip
UK house prices back on track after falling slightly in September dip with a 1.2% rise in October and up 7% annually, the latest published index shows. Growth of up to 5% is now predicted across UK in 2015 but the data from haart, the UK’s largest independent estate agent, with a network of over 200 branches, also shows that first time buyers are paying 8.1% more than a year ago. The latest rise takes the average annual house price to £204,247 but in London it is £501,561 with prices in the city up 18% year on year although monthly growth has slowed to 0.3%. The firm predicts UK property price growth between 3.5% and 5% in 2015 and in London up to 7% as 10 buyers chase each new property instruction across the country and 17 in London. ‘Although price growth is easing it is merely a market correction with all signals pointing to price rises of up to 5% across the UK next year. Savvy buyers and sellers would be wise to run with the window of opportunity that this creates now,’ said Paul Smith, chief executive officer of haart. He predicts that in the run up to the election next May it will be a case of ‘steady as she goes’ with little intervention from the government which thinks it has bigger fish to fry. However, he thinks this is short sighted. ‘Now is the time for some erudite analysis of the housing market by all political parties if we are to emerge post-election with renewed vigour. Supply of homes is the biggest issue affecting prices and until this is properly addressed, prices will continue to rise,’ he explained. The data also shows that the number of new buyers registering is down 12.3% annually and 2.4% on the month, but this must be seen in the context of the first six months of this year which were exceptionally busy with a renewed enthusiasm to buy driven by low interest rates and the availability of good mortgage deals. The number of properties for sale has dropped slightly annually, which again must be seen in context. The previous four months all saw an increase in the number of properties for sale. Overall demand remains strong across the UK. Again, with demand from first time buyers, there has been both an annual and a monthly fall in volumes by 17.2% and 3.6% respectively. First time buyers are putting down, on average, a deposit that is 4.4% lower than this time last year and the average LTV achieved is now 79.5% which is up from 78.7% last year. First time buyers are now taking out higher mortgages, at an average of £131,119, an 11.9% annual increase. Continue reading
Value of UK housing up 57% in last decade, new research shows
The current value of the UK's private housing stock is estimated at £5.06 trillion, up from £3.22 trillion in 2004, a rise of 57% over the past decade. New research from the Halifax says that the increase of £1.83 trillion is equivalent to £79,262 per household in the owner occupied and private rented sectors since 2004. It means that the increase in the value of the UK private residential housing stock has outstripped rises in consumer prices, with the retail price index up by 37% in the past decade. The data also shows that in the past year, the value of the UK's private housing stock has grown 14% or £630 billion, the fastest annual growth since 2002 when it was 21%. Regionally, over the last 12 months the value of housing stock in London is estimated to have grown by £217 billion and by £123 billion in the South East with the two regions accounting for more than half of the total growth of the value of housing stock across the UK. An increase in average property values combined with a rise in the number of private new build homes coming on to the market have been the main contributing drivers. The value of the housing stock has grown in all 12 UK regions over the past year, and all regions have also seen a significant increase in the value of their private housing stock during the last 10 years. The largest increase was in London where the value of housing stock has more than doubled at 109% from £545 billion in 2004 to £1.14 trillion in 2014. The capital is closely followed by Scotland, which has seen a rise of 96% from £170 billion to £333 billion. However, there have been much smaller increases elsewhere with the smallest rises in the West Midlands at 32% and the North East at 33%. The research also found that the value of mortgage debt has risen by 47% since 2004 from £877 billion to £1.29 trillion, but at the same time the value of the private housing stock has grown by more than four times as much as outstanding mortgage debt. As such, housing equity has increased by £1.42 trillion or 61% over the decade from £2.34 trillion in 2002 to £3.76 trillion. Regionally, there is a wide variation in the level of housing equity, with a higher balance in the south compared to northern areas. On average, the highest amounts of equity are in London where housing equity is estimated at £820 billion, which is equivalent to £313,466 per household. The capital is followed by the South East at £726 billion or £219,163 per household, and the East at £447 billion or £203,462 per household. Outside southern England, the highest average equity levels are in Scotland at £249 billion or £126,930 per household, the North West with £278 billion or £106,011 per household and the West Midlands at £248 billion or £125,532 per household. The lowest housing equity is… Continue reading
