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Tag: property transactions

The dials are set for a long period of flatlining but high house prices that bodes ill for building

The dials are set for a long period of flatlining but high house prices that bodes ill for building

The latest batch of housing market indicators show no real sign that the UK market overall is either collapsing through concerns over the economy and jobs or rising on lack of supply. The pattern continues of house prices gently sliding nationally. But as the latest report released today by the surveyors’ body RICS shows London remains, in the eyes of estate agents at least, a completely different market to the rest of the UK. In London a positive balance of 25%…

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Don’t read scare stories into the housing figures – we already know things are bad

Don’t read scare stories into the housing figures – we already know things are bad

The latest CLG house building figures for the second quarter of this year seem to be consistent with the view that activity is settling down to a new post-recession lower level. Much has been and is made of the jumps up and down each quarter in the starts and completions figures. But this volatility should be and should have been expected. No more significance should be given to the latest drop in starts than to the buoyancy in the numbers in…

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Why young folk can’t buy homes

Why young folk can’t buy homes

My patience runs thin when listening to the reasons why young folk can’t buy homes. And today I’ve had to listen to and read various interpretations of why they can’t, prompted by the release of the interesting Halifax sponsored research “The Reality of Generation Rent: Perceptions of the first time buyer market”. Call me unnecessarily reductive, but there is one simple over-riding reason why young folk struggle to buy a home, so simple it seems to be the most often…

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Little comfort for house sellers in latest market data and none for those wanting more homes built

Little comfort for house sellers in latest market data and none for those wanting more homes built

For those hypersensitive to twitches in the housing market the latest batch of data will not be comforting. Today we see the housing survey results for April from the surveyors’ body RICS, which its economists interpret as revealing a broad-based improvement, albeit within a market that remains fragile.

Home sales continue to slide

Home sales continue to slide

The latest figures from HM Revenue & Customs underline the fragility of the current housing market, showing continued falls in sales of homes. The data show the number of property transactions, seasonally adjusted, in the UK fell in the first three months of this year to a level last seen in July 2009.

Are we condemned to low levels of house building?

Are we condemned to low levels of house building?

Research released this week by the think tank ippr painted a gloomy picture of house shortages in England growing disturbingly in the years to 2025, by which time it reckons we could have demand outstripping supply by 750,000 homes. It’s a stab at trying to predict what might happen and there will always be problems with research of this kind. It is, for instance, not inconceivable that if Britain’s economy becomes less attractive we may see a significant rise in…

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House prices flatline in a fragile market, but what does this mean for construction?

House prices flatline in a fragile market, but what does this mean for construction?

As the various house price indicies trickle in with their indications of what happened to house prices and the housing market in February one thing remains certain – you’d be foolish to draw too many conclusions from them about the likely path ahead. Analysis of the December, January and February data has been clouded by the big freeze in December. And there remains considerable uncertainty over how much the big squeeze from public sector spending cuts has already hit demand…

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Drop in home buyers and sellers in December – was it the snow or is it a climate change?

Drop in home buyers and sellers in December – was it the snow or is it a climate change?

Both buyers and sellers appeared to be fleeing the housing market in December, according to the latest housing market survey from the surveyors’ body RICS. The intriguing question is whether this was a freak result cause by heavy falls of snow or are we seeing a climate change in the housing market. Certainly the RICS points understandably to the bad weather as a factor in the results. But we will have to wait for later results to provide a firmer…

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Whither house prices in 2011 – it sounds as if they will

Whither house prices in 2011 – it sounds as if they will

House prices dropped over 2010 by 1.6% on the normal measure used by Halifax and appear to be on the way down. Meanwhile the Bank of England reinforced what we already knew –or at least thought we knew – that the appetite for mortgages waned markedly in the final quarter of 2010 and is expected to decline still further this quarter. So, things don’t look too perky on the house price front (unless you are buying) when we add in…

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Buyers and sellers abandon the housing market – that’s bad news for house building numbers

Buyers and sellers abandon the housing market – that’s bad news for house building numbers

The latest housing market survey released today by the surveyors’ body RICS paints a fascinating picture of the courting process between buyers and sellers of houses. The headline figure taken from the survey was always going to be that the majority of estate agents are now seeing house price falls. The figure for the balance of agents seeing rising prices against those seeing prices fall was -52, which was the lowest since March last year. This figure fits with the general…

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