Musings from Manse and Garret London Property Buyers Agents

Source: Nationwide

Nationwide Building Society have released their latest house price data for  July, with news that they have registered the third consecutive rise in house prices and that house prices could end the year higher than where they started.  Given the sharp falls in prices last Autumn, year on year, house prices are down only 6%, down from -9% in June. 

Rightmove have confirmed what those of us who work in property every day were aware of: there is considerable number of buyers chasing limited stock and the number of buyers hasn’t dropped since beginning of the summer, as it usually does.

Looking at Nationwide’s figures for non-seasonally adjusted house prices, it is certainly true that  house prices have risen at a phenomenal rate this year.  The ‘average house’ has increased in value by 8% since February of this year, adding just under £10,000 to a house worth £150,000 at the beginning of this year.  However no-one expects the Autumn market to be as busy, although I have just done a viewing with an agent who is predicting a boom, but then there are many in our industry who will do so for reasons of self-interest, whether consciously or not.

The interesting thing from the Nationwide research is that as per the graph above, house prices are now on a par with the long term real house price trend, which should give comfort to buyers hoping to stay in their new homes for a number of years.

As for us, in our capacity as London Property Buyers Agents, I think we will see a relatively bumpy property market over the next six months at least.  A busy Spring Summer next year perhaps and stable Autunm and then potentially a more difficult 2011, depending on what the Tories do.  I do think the worst of the price falls will be over by the end of the year but I also sense a jittery market, so expect minor peaks and troughs.  Time will tell.

Technorati Tags: House Prices, London Property Buyers Agents, Rising house prices

Tags: House Prices, London Property Buyers Agents, Rising house prices

Musings of a London Property Buyers Agent

It seems that we have talked of nothing but house prices this week, so we thought we’d turn our attention to the desirability of further house price falls and soaring prices to help readers make up their own minds.

Firstly, if the market crashes again, here are the good things:

• Non-homeowners may be able to afford their own homes
• There will be more repossessions for those in a position to buy
• House prices in some areas will fall lower than the initial build cost, which is good for buyers

And the negatives:

• Many people will go into negative equity and some will lose their homes
• Bankruptcies will increase
• To some extent, the gap will widen between the rich and the poor

And the good things about a soaring market place:

• Some people will make an awful lot of money
• Downsizers can release cash to fund a new chapter in their lives, such as school fees, retirement etc 
• Existing homeowners are spared the worry of being in negative equity

And the bad:

• Wannabe-homeowners need to borrow more to live in smaller homes
• Fewer people will be able to buy a home of their own
• The chasm between rich and poor could widen as more people choose to rent as opposed to buy, lining the pockets of landlords

So the moral of the story in the view of this Property Buyers Agents is a steady, stable property market is the best thing for us all.  People with skill will still make money in property and some amateurs will struggle.  Confidence will return to the market and people will be able to move when they want to, without losing money – if they bought well in the first place of course!

Technorati Tags: House Prices, London Property Buyers Agent, London Property Buyers Agents, property slump

Tags: House Prices, London Property Buyers Agent, London Property Buyers Agents, property slump

Supplied by the Land Registry

Musings of a London Property Buyers Agent

The monthly house price index, published by the Land Registry has shown that London house prices jumped 2% in June, with pricing in the rest of the country broadly stable. 

Prices in Hackney increased by 2.7%, the highest increase, whilst those in Newham suffered most, posting a decrease of 2.7%.  Prices in Westminster, home to Belgravia, Mayfair, Marylebone and parts of Notting Hill were flat, dropping .2% since May. 

Prices in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea however followed the trend, increasing by 1.8% in a month.

To put these amounts into context, they are similar to the monthly increases we saw in 2007, although almost every borough posted house price increases then.  These new statistics mean that London prices are now down by just less than 15% since their peak.  Prices in the South East are now approximately 82.5% of those acheived at the top of the market.

There is no data on volumes of sales since the market turned in May, but we would expect an increase in activity from anecdotal evidence, hampered by a lack of stock on the market.

All in all this survey doesn’t provide much of a surprise but acknowledges what we have seen in the market and confirms the data provided by other house price indices.  Regular readers will be aware that we rely mostly on the Land Registry data, as it is based on actual sold prices so takes account of gazundering/gazumping post offer and down-valuations imposed by surveyors, unlike indices produced by most other bodies.

First time buyers should not feel too disheartened as we suspect there will be a downturn at the end of this year but the considerable jump in values in London shows that there is considerable appetite for London property and with stock very limited, I suspect this London trend will continue, albeit with significantly lower incremental changes.

Prices across England and Wales as a whole are stable, with only a 0.1% increase in June.  For more information please don’t hesitate to call us, the London Property Buyers Agents on 020 7923 7564.

Technorati Tags: Buyers agents, London Buyer's Agents, London Property Buyers Agent, London Property Buyers Agents, property buyers agents

Tags: Buyers agents, London Buyer's Agents, London Property Buyers Agent, London Property Buyers Agents, property buyers agents