International Property Investment » UK property

House prices rise in the UK – Much ado about nothing

Mark Knowles — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 08:35:18 +0000

If you are considering buying investment property in the UK – be warned. The latest headlines from all the major newspapers and the BBC etc, are making a great deal of the fact that average house prices in the UK rose in July by 1.7%

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UK house prices

Mark Knowles — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 11:12:50 +0000

According to the Telegraph, the house price correction in the UK is now over, so everyone can relax. They reference a report by the Centre for Economics and Business research which apparently states, house prices will actually “grow,” between the fourth quarter of 2009 and end-2010 and that, “there is a good chance that they will rise even more quickly, thanks to the unprecedented collapse in new homebuilding.”

Refinancing with poor credit

Mark Knowles — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:10:09 +0000

Whatever the government press release farms (newspapers) might be saying, those who have tried to refinance with poor credit will know that the economic crisis is alive and well currently. The news from the UK is frankly shocking at the moment, and any suggestion of a house price recovery should be taken with a very large pinch of salt.

House prices in the UK continue to decline

Mark Knowles — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:50:03 +0000

Asking prices for houses in the UK dropped in June, after rising consecutively in the preceding four months, a report from the property website Rightmove showed Monday. With sales volumes considerably off compared to last year, it would appear sellers are finally coming to terms with the realities of the market. The average asking price of property slipped 0.4% month-on-month in June, after rising 2.4% in May. The average asking prices declined to £226,436 from £227,441 in the preceding month. Despite the fall in June, the asking prices have increased 6% since January, Rightmove said.

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House prices in the UK fall for 20th consecutive month

Mark Knowles — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 08:17:34 +0000

The latest house price index from the British land registry shows a fall of 0.3% in April, bringing the average house price in England and Wales down to £152,898. The Land registry index is the only accurate figures available – although they lag behind the Building Society figures by a month or so, they reflect a more accurate picture because they are based on actual sales values rather than a building society’s mortgage value of an over-optimistic estate agent’s off-the-top-of-his-head valuation.

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Where is the bottom of the Real Estate Market?

Mark Knowles — Fri, 29 May 2009 10:40:52 +0000

These are a few recent headlines and predictions about when the real estate market will bottom out. Of course, there are a select few who have been calling the bottom for some time now. Oddly enough, these tend to be real estate agents and newspaper columns. Speaking of newspaper columns, we are sad to see the end of “Raising the Roof,” the erstwhile International Herald Tribune and more recently, New York Times’ very own property blog. Kevin Brass will continue to write the print edition property column for the NYT, but the online version is no more. Honestly – this was one of the few international newspaper property blogs worth reading, and I don’t think I ever once saw a “We have reached bottom, Buy Now!” headline – which may be why it has gone the way of all things? Newspaper advertising is drying up faster than the 120% mortgages did.

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The return of the 95 percent mortgage in the UK

Mark Knowles — Sun, 24 May 2009 11:04:40 +0000

The Times, which has apparently become a government press release farm, is all excited about a new mortgage product by government-owned Lloyds TSB. “First-time buyer deal breaks mortgage deadlock,” says the Times, and the lead in is “Lloyds TSB earns praise for new 95 per cent LTV.”

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Property Investing News Roundup

Mark Knowles — Fri, 15 May 2009 08:21:43 +0000

London townhouse sold for huge discount; the UK, Hong Kong, Dubai and Calgary markets have bottomed out; Luxury resort in the Bahamas goes broke; Irish property prices have fallen 52 percent and a British Member of Parliament forgets he paid his mortgage off.

Volatility still rules the property markets – although when the term “volatility,” started to mean “dropping prices,” remains a mystery. A few interesting reports from the property investing world make disturbing reading for some markets – particularly some of the emerging markets.

British House Prices continue falling

Mark Knowles — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 13:43:53 +0000

I do not think it will come as a surprise to anyone that British home prices are continuing on their downward trend. According to the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG), house prices fell in December to February this year by 12.3 percent compared to last year, and the average house price is now around £189,000.

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Another Blow to British Buy to Let Landlords

Mark Knowles — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 10:14:19 +0000

The over valued, over leveraged buy-to-let property market in the UK is now coming to terms with a new reality. The lenders had written clauses into many buy-to-let mortgages which insist on a certain level of equity being held in a property, and most buy to let mortgages taken out in the last few years are now falling below that ratio. Terms vary, but several banks have already exercised their right to insist on a capital injection from the borrower, as property prices in Britain continue to decline.

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