The National Association Of Estate Agents, say that house sales are up.  I must say that here in Camberley and Frimley we have seen  an increase in enquiries from local people here at Michael Usher Mortgage services www.mumsltd.co.uk

So I thought I would print some of their press release.

“Despite poor weather conditions throughout February, estate agents over the course of the month managed to increase the number of sales they agreed, report the National Association Estate Agents. continue

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I talk to a lot of local estate agents in Camberley, Blackwater, Farnborough, Aldershot, you know all the local big towns, on a fairly regular basis.

One thing they all tell me is that house prices are up. Not to the levels they were 2 or 2.5 years ago, but thing are beginning to look up despite there not being enough houses on the market actually for sale.

This has been confirmed by the latest RightMove press release stating 3.2% rise in house prices nationally.

I thought I would print the article here:

—————–

Monthly rise of 3.2% has not been beaten since April 2007, reveals the latest Rightmove House Price Index

The stock-starved housing market saw a welcome increase continue

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Just picked this little gem up from the press wires.

Things continue to improve, especially with the Bank Of England holding rates at 0.5%

House prices are up

• House prices rose by 1.2% in January and are up 8.6% year-on-year
  
• Recent economic data has been a mixed bag for the housing market
  
• Inflation uncertainties highlight interest rate risk

Please click here for the Nationwide house price calculator.

*seasonally adjusted

Commenting on the figures Martin Gahbauer, Nationwide’s Chief Economist said:

”House prices strengthened their upward momentum continue

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The value of property in Camberley went up last week and then it went down…What.. Talk about confusing.

First of all Nationwide Building Society put out a press release saying that property prices were up 0.9%. Wow we all thought as we listened to the news, things are bottoming out, meaning house prices have got to their lowest value since the recession began and now they are starting to rise.

Now where’s that copy of the Star newspaper, I’ve got to buy me some houses…

But then the following day, The Halifax came out with an opposing story saying that prices had fallen 1.9% in March..Who do you believe?

The Facts of Life

The sad fact is and I have said it before, the public relations machines of these large institutions have to justify their existence by putting out the odd story that gets the attention of the media.

Of course I haven’t read up on where Nationwide get their information from, they do have a lot of statistics to go on, as they give out quite a number of mortgages each year. But statistics can be interpreted many different ways and The Nationwide Pr/Media department, took one “headline” statistic and that became their story.

Over the last few years, during the lead up to the recession, Nationwide were always coming out with sensationalist stories, (they must have a very imaginative head of media who came from the School of Media Sensationalism).

Of course, we all want the value of property to rise and Nationwide wants to put out positive stories, but they have been premature.

The Halifax Building society came out the day after Nationwide’s sensational 0.9% story saying that property prices are down 1.9%, so who do you believe.

What local estate Agents are saying

Well I can tell you the there is definitley movement in the market, more people are looking at property locally. My friends who are estate agents tell me that there has been an increase in the number of people registering for property alerts in Camberley, Frimley Farnborough and Aldershot.

Also people are becoming more realistic about their selling prices.

I have been in the property related business for 20 years starting off as an estate agent, before moving into the financial sector 12 years ago.

In my opinion, people are waiting for the the value of property to “Bottom Out”, before they get involved in the buying and selling of property again and my estate agent friends are saying that this is happening, that prices are not falling like they were two or three months ago and that now is a good time to buy…But they would say that wouldn’t they.

Conclusion

When the headlines say the value of property is up 0.9% or down 1.9%, they are talking about the national picture, which does not relate to surrey and hampshire.

My advice is talk to a good estate agent who knows his stuff, yes there are plenty of good ones out there and not one who waffles the same old sales lines, that they are famous for.
I can recommend a number of local ones if you wish,  just drop me an email

In the meantime take care and don’t believe everything you hear in the news.

Michael Usher

01276 670777

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Them national media boys are at it again, beating us all up with lots of bad news about the economy. But will be as bad in Surrey or Hampshire.

Of course statistics don’t lie, although they can be manipulated to suit the cause especially in the politics game.

Look at unemployment, up to over 2 million and it could get worse with some economists saying 3 million is likely, even a spokesman for the TUC acknowledged  that 3 mill. could be possible.

Most of the jobs lost are not local and its far worse up north, especially in the former industrial areas. But let’s not get complacent down south. I know quite a few people who have lots their jobs and others who are also very concerned about theirs.

Lord Turner, he’s the guy who has been given the job of reviewing the role of the FSA (the Financial Services Authority), has said that mortgages may become harder to get, with the loan to value of the mortgages having a minimum of 10-15% deposit required.

I don’t see that as a bad thing, its good that a buyer shows some commitment to buying a property by working harder to save for a deposit. But mortgage companies, banks and building societies should not make it tremendously hard and difficult to get a mortgage. There has to be a balance.

So I hope the government and the FSA do not go over the top, after all this is the same government that was talking about allowing mortgages with 7 times your salary.

International Monetary Fund report.

Yikes more bad news… according to the IMF the Uk is in a worse financial position than most of it G20 partners in fact it has said “Britain will take longer to recover from the recession than any other major economy”

Hold on to your hats, but don’t panic.

Need to Remortgage

There is no doubt mortgages are cheaper at the moment, but still people are not taking advantage of this.

I recently agreed a 250k remortgage for a couple who were on a 6.5% loan down to 3.9%…can you imagine the savings they made monthly, but more about that in another blog post.

If I can be of service please call me 01276 670777

Bye for now

Michael Usher

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0.5% Bank Rate is good, but…..

Home owners in Surrey and Hampshire have seen their mortgage payments slashed in the last 5 months, well those that have a tracker mortgage or those we have helped recently to secure low mortgage rates.

Now the Bank of England have decided to print more money as well, (what a good idea, I wish I could do that) what we need now….is more lending please and all we can hope is that the banks do start to make funds available for desperate house buyers.

But of course we will all have to pay for it in the end. You can’t just print more money like its going out of fashion and not worry that this kind of action will not come back and bite you on the bum, because it surely well.

But, like the government, let’s not worry about that now, lets get the economy going again and worry about those other things in the future.

The local housing market.

I have been talking to quite a number of estate agents in Camberley, Frimley and Farnborough and they have all been saying that they are busier now than in the last 12 months and in some areas and with certain types of properties, prices are stablising.

But the banks and buiding societies are making things tougher all round. They are still insisting 0n 15, 20, or even 25% deposits, in fact its said that the government are contemplating on making it a law that there should be a deposit of at least 15%. Not sure about that.

10% deposit would seem fair and indeed workable. My first mortgage in the 80′s required 10% and yes it was hard to find that money, but I worked harder, did a job on the side and finally saved enough money to get my first house.

Prices of houses are higher now, but we all earn a lot more now.

Houses are also more affordable than they were this time last year and I know I keep saying it, but you can still get an even better bargain if you negotiate!!!!

So now its a case of saying hooray to 0.5% interest rates if you have a certain mortgage, but boo!!!  if you are a saver. Swings and roundabouts comes to mind. After all some savers had it good for so long.

As Forrest Gump said “Life’s like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”

If I can help you in any way with you mortgage, please email me through the website or just pick up the phone, I wont bite.

Michael 01276 670777

website

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