Musings of a London Property Finder

House prices across the country fell 1.4% in October according to the Nationwide House Price Index but the low volume of sales is indicative of the lack of financial malaise in the market overall, as homeowners refuse to negotiate on price, constricting supply.

Fionnuala Earley, Chief Economist at Nationwide commented “While vendors refuse to cut their price, the levels of activity are constrained. Asking prices have fallen this year but the rate of decline has been significantly behind that of other measures. Consumers still expect prices to continue to fall into 2009 and will therefore be reluctant to trade without some discount on the asking price. This type of stalemate ultimately limits the number of transactions which can take place. This could however indicate that conditions are not yet very stressed, as sellers have not felt the need to dramatically reduce their prices for a quick sale.”

Demand is being stymied by conservative lending on the part of the banks.  According to Nationwide there are 55% less buyers in the higher loan-to-value bands, ie buyers with low deposits, than this time last year.  The best rates are on offer to buyers with 25% deposits but those with 15% can also borrow.  Gone are the days of 90% or 95% mortgages, for now at least, although the mortgage advisers we use have told us they would expect lending to relax next year to allow mortgages at these rates during 2009. 

Anecdotal evidence from our Clients would indicate that many first-time buyers are very keen to enter the market, assuming they can get funding.  Increasingly they are approaching us for guidance in order to secure the best deal and be cushioned from further price deflation, expected next year.  These buyers are key to getting the market moving again, not only through their own purchases but also enabling buyers further up the chain to complete.

Our Clients in the £750,000 – £3 million bracket have tended not to move, rent their property and purchase another or rent their property and rent elsewhere.  The London Property Finder is redy to act when you want to move

Technorati Tags: Add new tag, First time buyers, House Prices, London House Prices, London Property Finder

Tags: Add new tag, First time buyers, House Prices, London House Prices, London Property Finder

Musings of a London Property Search Agent

Westfield Shopping Centre will be opened today by Mayor Boris Jonson at 10.30am.  This will be the largest shopping centre in London and apparently the largest city-centre shopping centre in Europe.  It marks the beginning of the end of the building site at the side of the West Cross Route between Shepherd’s Bush and Holland Park.

The Westfield website is keen to project a quality image and have managed to lure a number of luxury retailers in addition to high street brands and the 3 main department stores: House of Fraser, Debenhams and M&S.  The green gang will be disappointed at the high number of parking spaces (4,500) allowed for this development but drivers will love the valet parking (£5 plus parking for a limited time) and the ‘state of the art’ parking facilities which guide drivers to a free space.  Hopefully the designers have made it equally accessible to tube users and pedestrians.

Love it or hate it, the centre should have a positive impact on house prices both in Shepherd’s Bush,  and the surrounding areas such as West Kensington, Holland Park and Ladbroke Grove.  Many of the independent retailers around Shepherd’s Bush have a very different offering to the main retailers in Westfield and the more specialist among them may benefit from the increased traffic and the others will have to adapt to survive.  For local residents it will always be quicker to pop into a local shop than to walk miles through the shopping centre for a few items but the increased amenities will certainly be a draw in an area which has struggled with it’s identity as the poor relation to Holland Park, Kensington, Brook Green and Chiswick.

Residents should make a point of continuing to use their local shops if they don’t want them to vanish as if the economic slowdown coupled with Westfield force too many closures, the resulting landscape of closed or empty shops would certainly not be appealing to buyers.

One last thing – Property Week have just issued the news that the Candys are exiting the Noho development of the Middlesex Hospital in Fitzrovia, leaving the development in the hands of Icelandic bank Haupthing.  Watch this space the London Property Search Agent is monitoring retail closures near Westfield.

Technorati Tags: Candy Brothers, Fitzrovia, Holland Park House Prices, Ladbroke Grove House Prices, London Property Search Agent, Noho Development, Shepherds Bush House Prices, Shopping Centre, West Ken Property Prices, West Kensington House Prices, Westfield

Tags: Candy Brothers, Fitzrovia, Holland Park House Prices, Ladbroke Grove House Prices, London Property Search Agent, Noho Development, Shepherds Bush House Prices, Shopping Centre, West Ken Property Prices, West Kensington House Prices, Westfield

Musings of a London Property Finder

Mortgage approvals for house purchases have risen for the first time in over a year following a record low in August.  The summer in general and August in particular are always slow in the property world but figures released from the Bank of England today show that the balance of money paid off mortgages outweighed those taking them out for the first time since the 90s.

Mortgage approvals are still approximately a third of rates before the credit crunch and the volumes of houses purchased is down 50%.

This glimmer of good news is not expected to affect the expected downward trend in interest rates with some expecting rates to fall to 2.5% by this time next year.  Buy while the going is good says the London Property Finder.

Technorati Tags: credit crunch, house purchases, Interest Rates, Interest Rates Fall, London Property Finder, Morgage approvals

Tags: credit crunch, house purchases, Interest Rates, Interest Rates Fall, London Property Finder, Morgage approvals