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There are signs of increased activity in the housing market with a rise in the demand for property, a survey of estate agents suggests.
According to housing information specialist Hometrack, demand went up by 10.6% in June, as the market revived after a sluggish May. Hometrack’s director of research, Richard Donell, said part of the explanation was the willingness of sellers to drop their asking price to secure a buyer.
A recent opinion poll suggests that more than a quarter (28%) of us believe interest rates have risen in the last 12 months, while a smaller proportion – 17% – think they have fallen.
The poll was conducted for the Bank of England, whose Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has actually kept Bank rate (often called “base rate”) on hold at a record low of 0.5% since March 2009.
Homeowners could benefit from a combination of low interest rates and stable house prices – despite a sluggish performance from the UK economy.
That’s the suggestion after latest signals on rates from the Bank of England, following upbeat news on the housing market from the respected Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr).
A member of a crucial Bank of England committee has called for an immediate rise in interest rates to curb inflation.
Martin Weale of the Bank’s nine-strong Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) also warned homeowners and businesses to prepare for significant rises in the cost of borrowing over the next two years.
The Bank of England has kept interest rates on hold at 0.5% for the twenty-seventh time in succession – to the undoubted relief of millions of homeowners.
This month’s decision by the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) had been widely trailed, after a series of indicators suggested the recovery might by stalling. This week the International Monetary Fund (IMF) became that latest body to downgrade the UK’s growth forecast – to 1.5% – with the squeeze from cuts and tax rises expected to impact already weak consumer demand.
Lenders and house builders have been involved in secret talks aimed at easing the supply of mortgage finance, it’s reported.
According to The Times, leading house builders such as Taylor Wimpey and Barratt have been in discussion with the Council of Mortgage Lenders and major banks, including Lloyds and Santander.
Strong demand in the rental market is combining with improved availability of mortgage finance for landlords. And that’s good news for the buy-to-let market.
A series of surveys has highlighted the surge in demand for rented property in recent months. One factor is the difficulty faced by first time buyers in getting onto the property ladder, with almost a quarter estimating it will take them five years to raise a deposit, according to one survey.
Sales of homes worth more than a million pounds are on the up. That’s according to research from Lloyds TSB, based on figures from the Land Registry. Figures show that there were 7,185 sales of properties costing more than £1 million in 2010 – 54% more than in 2009. And that represents the biggest annual increase since 2006.
It seems that even the Royal Wedding is unlikely to put the zip back into the UK economy. And that means that interest rates are set to be kept on hold yet again this week.
Consensus is growing among economists that the recovery is still too fragile to risk a rate rise while others think the economy’s lacklustre performance means that inflation will drop of its own accord.
The number of loans approved by the banks for house purchase rose in March, according to the British Bankers’ Association (BBA). The total increased by 5% to 31,660 – the highest figure for eight months.
Net mortgage lending – taking into account repayments of loans in another words – was also 2.3% higher than a year ago, despite a weak performance in March as borrowers sought to repay debt.
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