House prices have made very little movement in May, increasing by just 0.1%, according to statistics published by the Halifax.

These numbers concur with statistics released by the Nationwide building society in the previous week. Nationwide claimed a little rise of  0.3%.

The small increase in May was preceded by a 1.4% decrease in April, the means that over the quarter property prices are down by 1.2%, while prices fell by -4.2% during the year, the sharpest year-on-year drop since October 2009.

Martin Ellis, housing economist for the Halifax, said: “House prices continue to drift modestly downwards as measured by the underlying trend. Low earnings growth, higher taxes and relatively high inflation are all putting pressure on household finances.

“Confidence is also weak as a result of uncertainty about the economic and employment outlook. These factors are probably constraining housing demand and applying some downward pressure on prices.

“Overall, we expect a moderate improvement in the economy during the remainder of 2011, which combined with continuing low interest rates is likely to support housing demand. This should prevent a further marked fall in prices and help to stabilise property values later in the year.”

Ellis claims that statistics announced by the Royal institute of chartered surveyors show there has been a slight movement in the balance between supply and demand and the amount of property sales increasing in comparison to the amount of unsold houses on agents’ books. But the amount of sales in the first quarter of the year is 5% lower than this time last year – 279,000 in comparison to 293,000, according to statistics from HMRC.

There is still much pessimism from economists in relation to the property market with most expecting property prices to fall during this year.

At quick house sale our opinion remains unchanged, we predict house prices will remain stagnant in the majority of places this year and we do not expect to see a recovery for 2-3 year. We are also still seeing discrepancies between the advertised prices of a property and the amount a surveyor will be prepared to value at.

Statistics published by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) indicate the remarkable uplift in the cost of deposits a first time buyer would need to make their first property purchase: from just £12,000 in 2007 to £26,000 today.

This uplift equates to 87% of their median salary in comparrison with 41% 4 years ago.

The CML described this problem as the “biggest challenge” first-time home buyers have to face.

Mortgage consultants have the belief that the lenders are requesting larger deposits because of the fear that borrowers will or may miss payments in the future, due to higher unemployment.

The CML said: “We do not expect there to be a significant increase in first-time buyer activity in 2011 or 2012.  The reality for first-time buyers is that, although there is widespread sympathy for their plight, they are only one of a number of different types of consumer who are experiencing difficulties in challenging housing and mortgage market conditions.”

The majority of first time buyers under 30 now require support from their families in order to make their furst purchase

The reason this is relevant for anyone looking to sell their property is that if the value of your property would mean first time buyers are a proportion of your target market (properties under £100K in West Yorkshire) it could make selling difficult.

Low interest rates and a steady small increase in unemployment have allowed the housing market to make a gentle landing

Some people anticipated in 2008 that the start of recession would lead to total collapse in house prices. However, this was fortunately prevented by lowering interest rates from Five percent to zero point five percent in a short space of time.

In turn, people with a mortgage experienced a sharp decrease in their mortgage payments.

In the 90s we experienced record levels of repossessions caused by high interest rates and a large increase in unemployment.

More recently we have experienced a slow decline within the property market. Applications for mortgages have decreased by over fifty percent since the high point of the property boom. However, property prices are drifting gradually lower even though repossessions are not rising.

This is likely to be due to demand for houses being weak, as people are worried about borrowing money when their budgets have been tightened because of rising living costs and higher taxes. This is also partly due to first time buyers finding it difficult get onto the property ladder and hundred per cent loans now being things of the past.

Please see the quick house sale guide to avoiding repossession if you need help in this area

A recent purchase and refurb for us was a property on Ashbourne Mount (near Peel Park). The property has recently been fully refurbished and is now available to buy, to rent or for a tenant buyer. More pictures will be available soon. If you’re interested in this property please contact us on the number above or speak to Robert Watts at their Highfield road office.

Growth in Cash Buyers in Housing Market

There has been a substantial increase in the amount of cash purchasers within the housing market, with nearly 40% of house buyers not requiring a home loan for the property purchase, statistics from The month of January this year display. It is a doubling of the proportion since 2005 and it is possibly more of an expression of the lack of mortgage financing accessible.

In a few regions of Greater London, the percentage of cash purchasers is even greater at 80%. Purchasers are usually more mature people who find themselves downsizing, divorcees having a monetary pay off and foreign buyers.

Around the edge of a failure, or beginning to see the green shoots of recuperation? Aled Blake handles homeowners’ anxieties in regards to the housing market inside the wake of a week of inconsistent indicators

Confidence is coming back, the mortgage market is freeing up and purchasers are yet again displaying interest.

However the recovery within the housing market, on which a lot of the UK’s economic activity is dependent, is still cloudy.

Although information released this week advised the market is returning to some of its buoyancy – though this is not on the dimensions of its peak inside the mid-2000s – there are still warnings that underlying developments betray a some weakness within the market.

Investment strategy group CheckRisk has cautioned that non commercial house prices in the united kingdom could tumble by between 20% and 25% from existing amounts this year and 2012. The investment strategy agent is convinced that a number of elements will probably send home prices collapsing including greater rates of interest, decreased mortgage lending, high inflation and high amounts of private and public debts.

 For the private seller this could be a fair warning that if you are looking to see then sell quickly, a quick house sale

Its been another busy week here at quick house sale. We have just completed a 3 purchases, one in the Wyke area of Bradford, one in Morley and another in Eccleshill. We have also been inundated with requests for valuations. We generally don’t provide this service but if we can help we usually do. With this is mind, if you would like help with your valuation please check the following post. http://quickhousesaleleeds.co.uk/value-your-house/

As mentioned below, the valuation given to you by the estate agent is not always  in line

House prices

 with what is happening in the market and quite often the surveyor will not agree with the advertised price of the property. This can cause a couple of issues, either you don’t get any interest from buyers due to the price or you secure an offer and the survey comes back with a lower value than the offer which will mean the buyer will probably pull out.

The graph shows the average advertised price of property broken down by month for the last year. Its worth remembering that the actual sale prices and the property market did not grow during this period. One option I have mentioned to a seller recently was, why not get your own survey of your property. This will allow you to offer the property at a realistic market price which will likely result in a quick house sale, you can choose an agent on ability rather than the price they claim they’ll get and you wont need to worry about the shock of a surveyor down valuation.

There’s no easy way to answer this question. There would be too many variables. If you have the time or the inclination and don’t require a quick house sale I would reccommend inviting local agents to value the property and talk to them about similar properties in the area and how fast they are selling. Remember that the agent is of course trying to get your business so dont take the first answer, ask for examples of recent sales and how long they were on the market.

We obviously follow our own suggestions and have the following examples of property sales in the local area. We invited an agent to value and advertise a property in the Pudsey area of Leeds. The agent explained that the property would probably sell quickly because we have fully modernised it after purchasing it from auction. He did supply evidence of recent sales at a similar however, when asked it came to light that these properties had been on the market for over a year and the price had been significantly reduced. The intention was always to sell the property so despite the above we decided to list it on the market. After 3 months on the market and only 1 viewing frustration started to set in. The issue seemed to be that the property was on the market for a price that would appeal to first time buyers but that end of the market seems to be the slowest moving. After the forth month the cost of keeping the property empty with no sign of a sale simply didnt make sense. We advertised the property for rental and within 2 weeks had 3 viewing and secured a tennant.

Obviously most people are not in the same position we are and dont have the option of renting the property out. If this sounds familier then we would offer the following advice, consider how long the property might be on the market (based on the agents feedback) and work out how much that time will cost you in bills and mortgage. Quick house sale companies sometimes get a bad reputation ofr

Its early days but unfortunately the doom and gloom is not showing much sign of movement. House prices showed a slight increase in January but overall for the last 3 months they are showing a decline. Its very early days but I’m sticking with me original prediction that we will end 2011 in a very similar position to how we started it in terms of property prices. I believe from most peoples perspective this is probably not bad news. If you’re looking to sell at least you know your buyer wont pull out due to a sudden downward shift and you can feel safe that the property you’re buying is at a good price and wont suddenly shift in the other direction. If you’re looking to invest then this is a great time for you. as mentioned on an earlier post, the market will pick up, its just a matter of time. If you look at property as a long term investment then short month on month movements in the market are largely irrelevant to you anyway.