‘No downturn’ in housing market

House prices in Northern Ireland are continuing to rise, new figures say.
The University of Ulster’s quarterly house price index reveals the overall average price of residential property has reached a new high of £114,150.

News.bbc.co.uk 30 August 2007.

The survey for the quarter from July to September showed growth over the year was 9.85% - full article

Warning of house-price collapse if stock markets don’t recover

Britain’s housing boom could come under threat from the financial markets meltdown, the Nationwide Building Society has warned.

By SAM FLEMING in The Daily Mail 30th August 2007

London’s skyrocketing property market is particularly vulnerable because of its dependence on big-spending City traders and bankers, the mortgage lender said - full article

Top tips for student landlords

As students around the country get to grips with their A-Level results, those who’ve already completed their first year in university accommodation will be making the big step into independent housing.

Moneyextra - 29 August 2007

Letting to students can generate substantial returns for landlords and the yields are often much higher than those achieved in the standard buy-to-let property market. But renting to students can be very different from the average letting process - full article

US housing crash reminds us we’re due a correction

Think back only a few months and the analysts who study the US housing market were pretty confident things would turn out alright. It had hit the bottom, they said, and by the second half of the year sales and prices would be rising again.

Richard Fletcher, The Telegraph Deputy City Editor - 29/08/2007

US house prices in record nosedive. Well here we are: the second half of 2007 is upon us and not only is the market not at the bottom, it’s falling faster than ever - full article

Could contagion from the United States finally kill off the boom?

Rumours of the demise of Britain’s housing market have been greatly exaggerated, but could contagion from the United States finally kill off the boom?

Gabriel Rozenberg: Analysis - The Times, 29 Augist 2007

Do not underestimate the pain of America’s property market. Analysts expect prices to fall by about 10 per cent, which Bill Gross, the managing director of Pimco, said would be “an asset deflation in the US never seen since the Great Depression”. The downturn has exposed canyon-wide gaps in the country’s mortgage market, notoriously in the sub-prime sector, and the repercussions are still unfolding - full article

Building yourself a career in property

PROPERTY is one of the UK’s most vibrant and exciting business sectors. But, as Kevin Venn of The Royal Bank of Scotland explains, although the commercial property market is hungry for finance, there can be challenges posed by this sector.

The property sector is one for neither amateurs nor faint hearts, and that applies to banks just as much as to property companies themselves. By their very nature and size, deals involving property tend to be large, and while the rewards for getting it right are substantial, the penalties for getting it wrong are also considerable - full article

Buy-to-let sector — stabiliser or spoiler?

The buy-to-let sector is providing housing market stability, as landlords are able to raise rents to absorb interest rate increases, according to one lender.

By Jennifer Hill LONDON (Reuters)

Paragon, which specialises in buy-to-let mortgages, said strong rental demand means landlords are able to raise rents to cover increased mortgage repayments - full Article

Rents May Cushion Fall

Positive rental growth is forecast to cushion a downturn for the commercial property market.

Strength in the economy and rising capacity constraints continue to encourage business expansion.

This is Leicestershire.co.uk - 28 August 2007

But with next year likely to see a slowdown in commercial property return from eight per cent to five per cent RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) predicts that investor returns will remain buoyed by advancing rents - full article

New Consultations

PainSmith Solicitors Legal Update - 24 August 2007

There are two key consultations which Landlords and the Agents may wish to respond to at the moment.

The first of these is by the Law Commission which is considering how to reduce problems relating to poor housing quality and harassment of tenants. Their current view is that all landlords should either be licensed or forced to use an approved Letting Agent.

All Agents are strongly advised to make their views known on this controversial topic. More information can be found at the Law Commission website on www.lawcom.gov.uk/housing_renting.htm

The DCLG has also published a consultation that will be of interest to Agents who deal with block management issues. This relates to planned changes to the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act and specifically to the rules on provision of statements of account to leaseholders and on the keeping of payments in designated client accounts.

Continue reading New Consultations…

Priorities shift for first time buyers

The UK housing market has undergone marked changes during the past 30 years, due to a combination of demographic, economic and political factors.

Precision Marketing Magazine 27 Aug 2007

A new study by GE Money Home Lending and the Future Foundation has identified the causes of change in this market, which continues to be a national obsession - full article