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UK Housing Market Has Fewer Vacant Homes Available

December 23rd, 2010 | Comments Off | Posted in Real Estate

After dealing with a backlog of surplus empty homes for three years, the UK housing market has begun to turn around. While banks are not approving a larger amount of mortgages, homeowners have been able to rent out a staggering number of previously vacant properties. Survey results recently released by mortgage lender Halifax shows that over 20,000 vacant homes in the UK have been occupied since April of this year. Surprisingly, these homes are not being bought by first-time home buyers. More people are opting to rent instead of purchasing a home because of the ever fluctuating house prices being reported by financial experts. Although the economy is unstable and the prices of properties are still very low, many lenders have been reluctant to approve loans for applicants with less than perfect credit ratings. Many people who have attempted to get a home loan  became discouraged when they were denied, and as a result, they decided that signing a short-termrental agreement would allow them to save money while they wait for the economy to get into better shape.

Some areas in the UK are still struggling to fill unoccupied homes, but overall, the trend has led experts in the housing sector to speculate that market will soon begin to level out. One reason why homeowners are choosing to rent their properties rather than sell them is because house prices are at an all time low. It would be very difficult for property investors to make a profit in the current economy. It may still be years before home prices rise again, but in the meantime property owners are working on a strategy that will bring them a dependable source of income. Eventually, lenders will approve more home loans and previous applicants will have a better chance of moving into homes, but for now both parties are making due with what resources they have available to them.

Prices for Top London Property May Be Headed Down

June 22nd, 2010 | Comments Off | Posted in Real Estate

The London property market had been experiencing some of the highest prices in resent years but conditions appear to be changing in the United Kingdom now. Certain highly sought after post codes were able to command top real estate prices, but that was largely due to UK optimism and a surge in the economy that is no longer happening. This, added to a looming cap on bonuses, an upcoming general election and even higher levels of tax being levied against citizens, does not bode well for property prices as incomes get pulled down further. Although prices are currently rising, the real estate adviser Saville’s prime central London index shows that the increase actually slowed to an unimpressive 3 per cent over the course of the last 3 months which is a full 1.6 per cent lower than the same time period during 2009. Compared with the steady drop experienced for London property owners who held the best real estate in the city from the end of 2007 until the beginning of 2009, this is not that drastic. During that era, a mind blowing 22 per cent drop occurred and vendors even accepted up to 40 per cent discounts which could never have been expected in the past. With prices improving in the economy after the second half of 2009, an average of 4 per cent rise in value each quarter was seen. Peak levels of price growth for the best properties in central London are currently close to the peak of 2007, around 17 per cent annually.

Economists worry this may prove to be a tipping point for the market and advise investors to be wary.

More than 8% Rise in Pending Home Sales

February 22nd, 2010 | No Comments | Posted in Real Estate

Home sales had been far less than steady in the United States as of late due to the economic upheaval of the past 2 years. The especially hard hit banking and home building sectors have been struggling to crawl back from the brink of what many had feared could be a total collapse in the housing market. Winter has traditionally been a low performance season for the home building sector and 2009 proved to be no different, but the number of buyers who are signing on the dotted line to purchase homes that have been previously owned have risen sharply in recent months, exceeding analyst expectations. This bodes well for the housing sector as federal incentives appear to be spurring buyers to make their offers where they might have hung back in tighter times. Home buyers have also been motivated by fears of mortgage rates potentially rising in the near future. According to reports coming from the National Association of Realtors, the index of sales agreements, which is adjusted each season, rose 8.2 per cent at the beginning of 2010. The group is viewing this as a real surge in home sales for the coming season.

The index was first begun in 2001 so the score would need to be at 100 to be equal to the housing sales activity for that first year. Currently, the reading stands near 97.6, but some economists believe that it may need to fall before it rises once again. While a growth season is expected, the post tax season is definitely easier on realtors due to the level of disposable income most households have available after receiving their tax returns.