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We bring you regular news updates and items relating to the UK property market so you can keep up to date with issues affecting the market. |
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UK mortgage lending up by 9% London, December 2009 The housing market received a further boost today after the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) revealed that the number of home loans approved for house purchase rose 9% in October compared with the previous month. Furthermore, it was an increase of 43% compared with October last year. According to the CML, there were 55,300 mortgages granted to buyers - the highest level since December 2007. The Council added that mortgage lending to buyers had now doubled since its low point in January this year. Commenting on today's figures, CML director general Michael Coogan, said: "It appears that low interest rates for those with substantial deposits, coupled with this year's sustained increases in house prices, are encouraging more people to buy or move home." "But the same low interest rates that are driving house purchase activity provide little incentive for borrowers to refinance their loans," he added. However, first-time buyers still require an average deposit of 25%, therefore, many are still finding it difficult to get onto the property ladder without a hefty deposit. In related news this week, the Halifax reported a 1.4% rise in house prices for the month of November compared with the previous month - the fifth consecutive month that house prices have risen. According to the lender, prices are 4.2% higher than they were in January 2009 but still 1.6% lower than this time last year. Meanwhile, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) recently revealed 90,000 homes worth at least £40,000 or more were sold in the month. - a rise of 13% compared with October 2008. Source: The Move Channel |
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UK prices rise 5.9 per cent in 2009 London, December 2009 UK house prices rose by 5.9% in 2009, making some recovery from the massive falls seen last year, the Nationwide building society has said. The rise in prices seen this year compared with a sharp fall of 15.9% in 2008, the lender said. The average cost of a home went up for the eighth month in a row in December, rising 0.4% to £162,103. However, the Nationwide predicted that prices would change little over the coming year. "This year's recovery has to some extent been driven by transitory factors and there are reasons to believe that it will lose momentum over the coming year," said Martin Gahbauer, the Nationwide's chief economist. "At the same time, there is no obvious catalyst on the near-term horizon that would trigger significant renewed falls in prices, such as a sharp spike in interest rates." Mr Gahbauer admitted that the past year's price increases had taken everyone by surprise. "Few could have foreseen this development at the start of the year, when the near-term price trend was still pointing to a repeat of the double-digit annual decline experienced in 2008," he said. "Although house prices are still 12.2% lower than their October 2007 cyclical peak, they have now rebounded by an impressive 8.9% since their February 2009 trough," he added. The Nationwide argued that although interest rates were likely to remain low, which would help mortgage borrowers, there was still uncertainty about whether unemployment would rise much further and whether cash-rich buyers could continue to be a significant feature of the market. As a result, it argued that the outlook for the coming year was unclear. Source: BBC news |
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