House Prices And The Housing Market Continue To Circle The Drain
According to figures released by Land Registry, property values have fallen by over 2% since 2010, which is not good news for homeowners who see their property as an investment.
It has been hard to ignore speculation and news coverage of house prices in the UK since the global financial crisis began. Newspapers have been full of stories about the lack of mortgage finance and the state of the UK property market over recent months.
What is even more concerning is that the Land Registry figures indicate that property values are still on the decrease in the UK, which is not good news for homeowners who were intending to move home as they will not get the best value when they come to sell and move on.
The only region to have seen any price growth in the last year is London, where prices rose by 0.8 per cent. This is compared to Wales where property values fell by 7 per cent and the North East of England where 9 per cent has been wiped off the average house price.
With house prices reducing to more affordable levels and banks rediscovering their appetite for mortgage lending, it is perhaps surprising that the housing market has remained so subdued.
HMRC have confirmed that the number of house sales had increased by almost 10,000 in March from a month previously, making the new figure of houses sold in March just over 65,000 in the UK.
Bank of England figures also show that mortgage approvals have risen in the first quarter of 2011 and they expect the number of transactions to continue to rise over the next few months. As the Bank of England Base rate remains at its record low level of 0.5 per cent, remortgage rates remain extremely competitive and these are attracting many borrowers.
Mortgage approvals rose by 1,000 in March and just under 50,000 home loans were agreed in the month. Whilst this figure is lower than in the 'boom' times, it does represent an increase on the six month average and so perhaps there is cause for optimism. However, in the first quarter of 2011 there were only 174,000 house sales and this is the second lowest quarterly figure on record.
Most who own their own property are unwilling to sell at this point in time as they would lose out on a lot of growth in the value of their homes due to average property prices being so low, so looking to remortgage and 'waiting out the storm' is the only other option.
In previous years, remortgage deals a popular way for asset rich but cash poor homeowners to raise finances for essential home improvements or luxuries. In these tough economic times, however, this is far less common. Re-mortgages are generally completed as people try to find new ways of saving money on their monthly mortgage costs - the biggest household expense.
It has been hard to ignore speculation and news coverage of house prices in the UK since the global financial crisis began. Newspapers have been full of stories about the lack of mortgage finance and the state of the UK property market over recent months.
What is even more concerning is that the Land Registry figures indicate that property values are still on the decrease in the UK, which is not good news for homeowners who were intending to move home as they will not get the best value when they come to sell and move on.
The only region to have seen any price growth in the last year is London, where prices rose by 0.8 per cent. This is compared to Wales where property values fell by 7 per cent and the North East of England where 9 per cent has been wiped off the average house price.
With house prices reducing to more affordable levels and banks rediscovering their appetite for mortgage lending, it is perhaps surprising that the housing market has remained so subdued.
HMRC have confirmed that the number of house sales had increased by almost 10,000 in March from a month previously, making the new figure of houses sold in March just over 65,000 in the UK.
Bank of England figures also show that mortgage approvals have risen in the first quarter of 2011 and they expect the number of transactions to continue to rise over the next few months. As the Bank of England Base rate remains at its record low level of 0.5 per cent, remortgage rates remain extremely competitive and these are attracting many borrowers.
Mortgage approvals rose by 1,000 in March and just under 50,000 home loans were agreed in the month. Whilst this figure is lower than in the 'boom' times, it does represent an increase on the six month average and so perhaps there is cause for optimism. However, in the first quarter of 2011 there were only 174,000 house sales and this is the second lowest quarterly figure on record.
Most who own their own property are unwilling to sell at this point in time as they would lose out on a lot of growth in the value of their homes due to average property prices being so low, so looking to remortgage and 'waiting out the storm' is the only other option.
In previous years, remortgage deals a popular way for asset rich but cash poor homeowners to raise finances for essential home improvements or luxuries. In these tough economic times, however, this is far less common. Re-mortgages are generally completed as people try to find new ways of saving money on their monthly mortgage costs - the biggest household expense.
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