Hooray! Housing Market Rockets!!!!!

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

BRITAIN’S resurgent housing market showed further signs of strong recovery yesterday with evidence that mortgage approvals had almost doubled.


Increased consumer confidence, continuing record low interest rates and better weather all combined to cause the rise.

Mortgage lending was 45 per cent higher in March than the same time last year – the ninth consecutive month of year-on-year growth.

The increase provides more proof that the housing market is regaining momentum following a subdued start to the year due to the end of last year’s stamp duty holiday and bad weather.

David Newnes, managing director of LSL, owner of estate agents Your Move and Reeds Rains, said last night: “Many people haven’t woken up to the extent of recent house price rises – they’re already up £5,500 this year.
“Values have climbed back to their previous heights and confidence has surged back. We’ve seen a boost in the number of sellers across our network and steady growth in buyer interest since the turn of the year.”


A survey by Your Move found that three quarters of home owners believe house prices will continue to rise over the next year.

Mr Newnes added: “Overall home owners thought house prices will rise 5.4 per cent in the next two years and 11 per cent in the next five. That’s a terrific boost for the market.”

About 45,000 mortgages were lent for house purchase during the month, up from 36,000 in February, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CLA).

“The mortgage market appears to be stirring after 18 months of deep sleep,” said Nigel Lewis, property analyst at website Findaproperty.com. “Lenders are beginning to show signs of relaxing their criteria and first-time buyers and those with small deposits are finding more financing options open.

The figures follow reports from lenders such as Halifax and Nationwide who have forecast rising house prices this year.

Builders merchants Travis Perkins yesterday reported a 1.4 per cent sales rise in the four months to the end of April, lifted by their rising house-building programme.

With interest rates set to remain at their record low on 0.5 per cent, this will encourage buyers to return, boosting prices by 5.3 per cent this year, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research.

It means the value of the average British home would rise from £169,500, as calculated by Britain’s biggest lender Halifax, to £178,500 by the end of this year.

And it could be first-time buyers who lead the way, the CML statistics show.

First-time buyer activity rebounded quicker than that for home movers during March, with 17,300 first-time buyers taking out a mortgage, 27 per cent more than in February. A further 27,500 mortgages were taken out by former owner-occupiers, 24 per cent up on the February figure.

Overall, 112,000 loans were advanced during the first quarter, down from 171,000 during the last three months of 2009.

However, the CML stressed that no trend could be inferred from this because the figures were distorted by transactions on lower-value properties being completed before the stamp duty “holiday” ended on January 1.

Advances to all people buying a property totalled £6.3billion during March.
First-time buyers put down an average of 24 per cent of their home’s value for the second month running – the first time first-home deposits have been lower than 25 per cent for more than one month since January 2009.

Couldn't resist......
:beer:

heffsta

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

Couldn't resist......
:beer:

Haha, she is fit!

but the reads this newspaper anyway? I have not met anyone who reads it in Real life?

mr_fishbulb

Who wants to live in a rocket?

phil_b_2

heffsta wrote: »

Haha, she is fit!

hmmm she's a bit skeletal. I bet the body image campaigners are going potty. I'd like to see a huge obese woman become miss America. may as well have someone who is at least an accurate representation of the country's population.

Cleaver

A cover-story about how great rising house prices are, a cover-story with a muslim twist... all I needed was a cover-story relating to Princess Diana and I would have won my game of Daily Express Bingo.

The-mouth-of-the-south

What a joke bad reporting get ready for the storm!

System

"First-time buyer activity rebounded quicker than that for home movers during March, with 17,300 first-time buyers taking out a mortgage, 27 per cent more than in February. A further 27,500 mortgages were taken out by former owner-occupiers, 24 per cent up on the February figure

I have it on good authority that it's impossible to get on the ladder.

92203

Does the editorial team of this news paper have vested interest in the property market? This is the second article in two weeks which appears to have been written to ramp up the property market, which is still in a very precarious state.

The headline is very misleading, even the source they have quoted has said that lending this year, is actually down by nearly a 3rd since the final quarter of 2009.

Transactional values are still very low in comparison to the norm, and although they are 45% higher than a year ago, this time last year we were still in the midst of a market crash.

I also have to ask, is housing affordability reducing further really something to celebrate? This paper is of often bemoaning energy price increases, why are house prices any different?

There are many people who do worthwhile jobs, such as working in care, but get paid very little. 10 years ago, in my home city at least, it was possible for someone doing such a job to buy a low end house.

People deserve the opportunity to feel as though they are building up some security for their future, rather than spending a lifetime feeling as though they are treading water.

10 years ago, someone earning the average wage back then (£16k) would have been able to afford a reasonable house in a decent area in my home city. Nowadays someone earning the average wage (£25k) would only be able to afford a low end terrace in a very rough area. Anyone on less than this would struggle to afford to buy anywhere.

From my own personal perspective, I find the whole situation fascinating, and a little worrying too. One thing that high prices have done (which to some may be seen as a good thing), is erode the class system.

Where I live, young professionals (eg people with decent jobs) are attempting to get on the ladder by buying terraced housing in poor areas, and living amongst pre-boom owner occupiers who conversely do very menial jobs and have vastly different values.

What we are seeing at present, is the transfer of wealth from the younger generation to the older generation. This is through a number of channels including rent payments , the purchase of over priced property, and tax contributions to fund one generation only pension schemes.

Come on Daily Express, if you are a paper for the working man, why aren’t you campaigning for homes to become affordable again, rather than attempting to set off yet another boom?

liland2

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

Couldn't resist......
:beer:

you have :pgot to be an estate agent;)

poppy10_2

HOORAY! INFLATION ROCKETS TOO!

Inflation hits 17-month high

Everything is going up, not just house prices. Or rather, our currency is becoming worth less and less.

Cleaver

92203 wrote: »

Does the editorial team of this news paper have vested interest in the property market?

The editorial team recognise the same thing in the general public that we all on here have - an interest in house prices.

We all have vested interests in the property market, including yourself which is why you logged on to a forum to read a thread about a house price article by the Daily Express and were interested enough to comment on it.