Uk
Annual house price growth in England and Wales past peak of 2007
Annual house price growth in England and Wales was 5.4% in June, taking values to a new high of £181,619, according to the latest official property data from the Land Registry. This surpasses the previous peak of £180,983 in November 2007 and month on month prices increased by 1.1%, the data also shows. A regional breakdown of the data shows that the largest annual price growth was in London where prices were up 9.2% and the North East experienced the greatest monthly rise with a rise of 3%. Yorkshire and The Humber saw the lowest annual price increase of 1.4% and also saw the largest price fall month on month with values down 0.9%. Sales and repossessions during April 2015, the most up to date figures available, show that the number of completed house sales in England and Wales decreased by 19% to 57,180 compared with 70,244 in April 2014 The data also shows that the number of properties sold in England and Wales for over £1 million decreased by 22% to 874 from 1,114 a year earlier and repossessions in England and Wales decreased by 48% to 505 compared with 974 in April 2014. In the North East prices were up 3% month on month and 2.4% year on year to an average of £102,064 and in the North West they were up 0.2% month on month and 3.6% year on year to £114,754. In Wales prices increased 1.7% month on month and 2.7% year on year to an average of £181,619 while in the East Midlands the rise was 0.7% and 5% to £134,965 and in the West Midlands prices fell 0.2% but are still up 2.1% year on year to £137,209. The South West saw a month on month rise of 0.8% and an annual rise of 5.2% to an average of £189,850, the South East saw prices rise 0.4% month on month and 8.4% year on year to £247,375 and in London there was a 1.8% monthly rise and an annual increase of 9.2%, taking the average price of a home in the capital city to £481,820. In the East of England prices fell 0.8% month on month but are still up 7.8% compared with June 2014, taking the average property price in the region to £203,428 while Yorkshire and Humber also saw prices fall month on month by 0.9% but up 1.4% year on year to £121,070. A breakdown of the figures by property type shows that detached house have increased by 5.4% year on year to £284,478, semi-detached by 5% to £171,154, terraced homes by 5.4% to £137,123 and flats by 5.6% to £174,523. Adrian Gill, director of Your Move and Reeds Rains estate agents, described then figures as ‘healthy’. ‘Confidence at the bottom of the market is particularly strong and it is the region with the lowest average house price, the North East, that has seen the biggest monthly improvement in prices, as cheaper mortgage finance and government support… Continue reading
UK landlords prefer intermediaries and brokers for buy to let finance
UK landlords tend to use an intermediary or broker when it comes to arranging buy to let mortgages, new research has found. Some 69% chose this route while 13% arranged their most recent loan directly with a lender face to face, 12 with a lender over the telephone and 5% with a lender online, according to the report from the National Landlords Association (NLA). The research found the main reason given by 51% of landlords for using a broker was that they felt they were better placed to review products in the marketplace while 42% said that they had established a longstanding relationship with their broker. Of those who arranged their buy to let mortgage directly through a lender, 35% did so because they had an existing loan with them, and 27% did so because they already bank with them. ‘Brokers will be please to know that a large proportion of landlords chose to use them when arranging a buy to let mortgage and it shows that a good relationship goes a long way in business,’ said NLA chairman Carolyn Uphill. ‘These findings are interesting because, unlike most other products and services, completing transactions online is becoming more and more common. However, the variety of avenues to take when getting a buy to let mortgage can be time consuming and overwhelming and it’s difficult to know whether or not you have covered all bases, especially for those landlords that are new to the market,’ she explained. ‘This is why many put their faith in a broker and it reinforces that they are happy with the service they get,’ she added. Continue reading
Surge in house equity release in UK as over 55s cash in on property wealth
Equity release lending to UK home owners over the age of 55 totalled £384.3 million in the second quarter of 2015, the largest amount for any quarter since records began. The latest data from the Equity Release Council show that this surpasses the previous high of £375.4 million reached in the third quarter of 2014 and that the over 55s withdrew £4.2 million of housing wealth every day from April to June. This uplift comes despite savers gaining greater access to their pension pots under the freedoms launched on 06 April. With house prices rising again, it shows the growing appeal of using property wealth as an extra source of retirement income in later life, according to the report. Also, record lending in the second quarter meant the total value of equity released in the first six months of 2015 hit £710 million, the largest sum on record for the first half of the year and an 11% increase on the first half of 2014. There were 5,414 new equity release customers in the second quarter of 2015, an 11% increase on the last quarter, pushing the total number of new customers past 10,000 for the first six months of 2015. The value of lending, via lump sum lifetime mortgages, increased by 10% year on year in the first half of 2015 to reach £285.3 million, the highest total for lump sum activity in the first half of any year since the first half of 2007 when the value hit £355.9 million. However, the value of lending via drawdown lifetime mortgages surpassed this rate of growth, rising 12% year on year from £379.2 million in the first half of 2014) to £423.5 million in the first half of 2015. The data shows it also rose faster from the first to second quarter, at 21% compared with 14% for lump sum products. The Council says this was as customers took advantage of the flexibility to withdraw their housing wealth in regular instalments rather than as a one off amount. Home reversion plans account for less than 1% of the overall equity release market, yet these too saw an increase of 18% in lending from £534,765 in the first quarter of 2015 to £632,647 in the second quarter. ‘The last three months have been a landmark period for UK retirees and those approaching retirement, and equity release activity continues to grow amid a sea of change. There is no doubt the pension freedoms have created more options for people to consider, but the appeal of tapping into housing wealth is on the rise as older consumers seek to make use of all the assets at their disposal,’ said Nigel Waterson, chairman of the Equity Release Council. ‘Doom and gloom often surrounds discussions on retirement income, but while contributions to pension pots remain low, an entire generation of home owners have been paying into property their whole lives… Continue reading
