Property News

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

North East prices up 5.6%

According a North East regional survey by Halifax, average house prices in the North have risen by 5.6% on average over the past year, ahead of the UK average of 2.8% to reach an average price of £148,167.

Billingham, a Teeside town, is in first place in the Halifax league table for the region with prices having soared 20% to £168,482 in the year to the end of March. Other towns showing large increases were Washington in Tyne and Wear (17%) and Cramlington in Northumberland (16%).

Darlington experienced a 15% rise to £149,135; Hartlepool 12% to £140,565; Middlesbrough 12% to £139,468, Redcar, 13% to £145,413; Saltburn 9% to £131,185; and Stockton 10% to £148,855.

Monday, April 23, 2007

Slow down in mortgage lending

According to the British Bankers Association (BBA), underlying net mortgage lending growth slowed in March.

The BBA said mortgage lending rose by 5.1 billion pounds last month, unchanged from a downwardly revised increase of 5.1 billion pounds in February and below the recent average of 5.5 billion pounds.

In recent months, the housing market has shown resilience to three interest rate rises since last August, however, there have been some signs the market may be starting to cool.

"In the last two months, demand has moderated a little and, with no short-term prospect of costs reducing, mortgage lending growth should ease further in the months ahead," said BBA Director of Statistics David Dooks

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Further rises for Northern Ireland

New figures from Northern Ireland's Department for Social Development show the average selling price of a new house in Northern Ireland was 23.2% higher in the final quarter of 2006 than a year earlier.

The average selling price of a new house registered with the National House Building Council (NHBC) between October and December 2006 was £170,000, an increase of £32,000 on the same time in 2005. Average selling prices for new houses stood between £126,000 in Larne District Council and £253,700 in North Down District Council.

According to Nationwide, Northern Ireland saw record annual house price growth in the first quarter of 2007, with property values 57.6% higher than the year before

Monday, April 16, 2007

4-year high for house price growth

According to the property website Rightmove, asking prices for homes in England and Wales rose at their fastest annual pace in nearly four years in April.

The survey showed prices rose an annual 15.0% between March 11 and April 7, accelerating sharply from 12.2% in the previous month and showing the strongest rate of annual growth since May 2003.

Asking prices rose 3.6% in the month, pushing the average price to 236,490 pounds (Rightmove's figures are not adjusted for seasonal factors).

There were, however, large discrepancies in regional price growth. Prices in London's upmarket Kensington and Chelsea borough rose nearly 90% on the year, but in Wales asking prices are just 6% higher than a year ago.

Monday, April 02, 2007

Experts predict fall in 2008

According to experts reporting to the Daily Telegraph, the housing market is heading for a fall next year, after it emerged that property is at its most overvalued level in more than 15 years.

Soaring prices are putting properties out of reach for many, with unaffordability reaching the worst level since the end of the last major crash. The warning coincides with news that the average mortgage rate has reached seven per cent, with millions of households paying well above the Bank of England's 5.25%.

With the Bank expected to increase borrowing costs for the fourth time in a year - possibly as soon as Thursday - economists have sounded the alarm over the market's strength. This comes after the revelation that disposable incomes rose at the slowest rate in 25 years in 2006.

Experts say the country is divided into three distinct markets. While prices in London and the South East soar because of a shortage of prime property and a glut of money flooding in from City workers, most of the rest of the country has seen prices barely move over the past year.
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland is enjoying the biggest property boom in Europe because of the peace dividend and an influx of public sector money.