Asking prices for property declined by 0.6% on average in July (£236,332), following a 0.3% rise in June (£237,767), according to property website Rightmove. This is the first month in 2010 that new sellers have dropped their asking prices. The trend looks set to continue with gains of 7% in 2010 so far expected to be entirely eroded by the end of the year, with new sellers outstripping new mortgage approvals by a ratio of 5:2. Figures show that over 30,000 properties are coming to the market each week, up by 45% on July of last year. Miles Shipside, commercial director of Rightmove, said that sellers are going to have to price at bargain levels and heavily promote their homes to secure a sale.
July 20, 2010
Gross Mortgage Lending Up 15% In June
Gross mortgage lending in June was an estimated £13.1bn, a 15% increase from £11.4bn in May and a 7% increase from £12.2bn in June last year, according to new data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders. Gross lending in the second quarter of 2010 was an estimated £35bn, up 17% from the first quarter of this year and up 7% from the second quarter of 2009 when it was £32.7bn. Lending in the first half of 2010 remained unchanged from the first half of 2009 – £65bn
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July 13, 2010
UK Inflation Falls To 3.2% In June
UK inflation fell to 3.2% in June, down from 3.4% in May. The Consumer Price Index is still above the Bank of England’s 2% target. Falling petrol and diesel prices are by far the main drivers to the downward pressure to CPI annual inflation between May and June. The largest upward pressures to the change in CPI inflation between May and June came from miscellaneous goods and services and air transport. In the year to June, Retail Prices Index’s annual inflation was 5.0%, down from 5.1% in May. The main factors affecting the CPI also affected the RPI. Additionally there was upward pressure to the change in the RPI annual rate from housing. This was driven by house depreciation, which rose this year but fell a year ago. RPIX inflation – the all items RPI excluding mortgage interest payments – was 5.0% in June, down from 5.1% in May.
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July 12, 2010
Rate Rise Predicted For 2012
The Bank of England might not increase interest rates until 2012, according to the centre for economics and business research (cebr). The think tank suggests newly appointed Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member, Dr Martin Weale, could follow Governor Mervyn King’s lead in wanting to keep interest rates lower for longer to accommodate fiscal tightening, rather than focusing on rising inflation expectations when inflation is actually falling back. Noting the MPC’s remit is to focus on inflation two years down the line, the cebr said: “Given this is exactly when public sector cuts will really be starting to bite, adding to the slack in the economy and, in particular, the labour market, we see little reason for an interest rate rise this year or next.”
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July 8, 2010
House Prices Drop 0.6% In June
House prices have dropped 0.6% in June but are still 6.3% up on last year, according to the Halifax House Price Index. Prices for the April to June quarter remain largely unchanged from the first quarter at 0.1% lower. Martin Ellis, housing economist at Halifax, says: “This continued the slowdown in house price growth since the beginning of the year following the moderate recovery in prices during much of 2009. This pattern is in line with our view that house prices will be broadly unchanged over 2010 as a whole.” The average house price stands at £166,203 which is 17% below its August 2007 peak. An increase in house sales meant the ratio of house sales to the stock of unsold properties on surveyors’ books fell for the fifth time in the past six months. In separate research Halifax reveals the cost of owning and running a home has dropped by 6% over the past two years by £544 to £9,020 due to a 19% fall in mortgage payments.
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Base Rate Held At 0.5% To Protect Recovery
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee today voted to maintain the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.5%.
The Committee also voted to maintain the stock of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves at £200 billion.
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