Primarily based on Halifax’s own house price info the average selling price in Woking was 16% higher than in the previous year increasing from £257,590 in 2010 to £299,654 in 2011. Woking of course is a large commuter town within easy reach of central London by rail.

Falkirk in Scotland experienced the second largest rise in house prices with a 12 per cent gain. Like Woking, Falkirk is inside straightforward commuting distance of major commercial centers of Edinburgh and Glasgow. The town also has comparatively low average property prices making it more reasonable than lots of other areas close to Scotland’s 2 largest cities.

Towns in London and the South East accounted for 9 of the 20 cities recording the biggest price increases in 2011.

28% of the towns surveyed saw some increase in prices over the year. Kettering in Northamptonshire and Dunfermline in Scotland experienced the largest falls in average selling costs in 2011 both recording declines of 15 per cent. 9 of the10 towns that saw the biggest declines in property values are outside southern England reflecting the generally weaker performance of the housing market outside of the south.

Martin Ellis housing economist at Halifax commented “Whilst house prices nationally have been largely unchanged in recent months, there have been significant differences in performance in towns across the country. The two towns recording the biggest rises are both within easy commuting distance of major commercial centres.

In contrast, the majority of towns that have fared worst in house price terms are outside southern England where economic conditions have tended to be less favourable.

“Uncertainty around the economy is unusually high as we go into the New Year. This makes it especially difficult to predict the course of house prices over the next 12 months. Overall, we expect broad stability in house prices nationally during 2012. Nonetheless, we expect some variation in house price movements across the country. Prices are likely to be strongest in London and the South East as these regions perform better economically. House prices outside southern England are expected to be constrained by these areas’ generally weaker economic performance and their greater dependence on public sector employment..

In August it was 30% higher than last year. In fact it’s believed that the UK mortgage market could be well on its way to recovery as new figures have revealed that 52,000 new house purchase loans were approved in August, an increase of 7%.

The report by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) whose members are banks, building societies and other lenders who together undertake around 94% of all residential mortgage lending in the UK said the new loans were worth £7.9 billion in total.

They also said that monthly mortgage interest payments are now an average of 9.4% of house buyers’ incomes, the lowest rate measured since the beginning of records in 2002.

An increase has also been noted in the number of loans available for remortgaging, which have risen by a third to 34,100.
Paul Smee, director general of the CML, said: “Even though it is impossible to ignore the knocks to confidence emanating from the eurozone, August lending showed welcome signs of life.
“With those moving house experiencing a record low in the proportion of their income needed to pay their mortgage interest, it is clear that the low rate environment is a benefit to those with mortgages, even against the backdrop of the gloom in the wider economy.”

Hey, I thought we were busy, obviously it’s not just us..

So if you want any help or advice on any aspect of new mortgages or remortgages, please get in touch.

Michael

www.mumsltd.co.uk

Borrowing money has never been cheaper and thats a fact..

But at this moment you can get a mortgage with a mortgage rate of 1.99%

Now I’ll grant you that you need a 30% deposit, but that’s not a stretch for some people who can easily find this as part of their current equity on their current home.

So are you paying more that 1.99% at the moment? If you can meet the criteria laid down by the lender, it may be worth you talking to us, to see if we can save you lots of money monthly and shorten your mortgage period.

Give us a call for a no obligation chat

01276 670777

Many experts believe that this will continue for the next year or two, which is not a bad thing in my opinion. After all we’re not here to make a quick buck with our homes but hope that, when we finish paying our mortgage off, we’ll own it outright.

We’re here for the long term, when it comes to our home, although I appreciate that not everyone feels the same and some do see it as a way of making lots of wonga!!

So I came across this piece from the BBC website that I thought you might to read about the “Stagnation Of Property Prices” in the UK…..

House prices in England and Wales continue to stagnate, according to the latest figures from the Land Registry.

Average prices fell by 0.3% in August to £162,347, leaving them 2.6% lower than a year ago.

It was the third fall in the past four months and means the annual rate of house price decline has changed little during that time.

With small fluctuations each month, house prices in England and Wales have hardly changed since the end of 2010.

The Land Registry said that prices in London continued to diverge strongly from the rest of the country.

They rose by another 0.5% last month and are now 2.1% higher than they were a year ago.

This makes London the only region to experience a rise in prices in the past year, with property prices now averaging £348,686.

By contrast, in that time prices have fallen by 7.8% in the North East of England and by 5.5% in Wales.

Lucy Pendleton, of estate agents James Pendleton, said the market was in a state of eternal to-ing and fro-ing.

“London, with its unique climate, once again stands out as the most resilient local market in the UK,” she said.
“While London prices float upwards due to a shortage of property and strong demand, not least from wealthy foreign buyers attracted by the cheap pound, for the rest of the UK it is not quite so positive.”

‘Tight funding conditions’

The continued stagnation of prices and sales has been mainly due to the rationing of mortgage funds by banks and building societies, which has been in force since the height of the banking crisis in 2008.

A report from the Bank of England – its latest quarterly Credit Conditions Survey – has found that lenders continue to find it difficult to raise funds in the financial markets, which they can then lend to customers.

Lenders told the Bank that there had been more demand for mortgages in the third quarter of this year.

And they expected to be able to offer a little more money to would-be borrowers in the coming months.

But the Bank warned that things might take a turn for the worse.

“In both the household and corporate surveys, lenders pointed to adverse wholesale funding conditions as a key factor which might constrain future lending,” the Bank said.

“More recent discussions with some of the major lenders suggested that although these factors had not yet led to reduced credit availability, a period of sustained tight funding conditions could act to constrain their ability to extend loans going forward,” it added.

Property market commentator Henry Pryor said that with asking prices still much higher than selling prices, sellers were still in denial about the true market value of their homes.

The property website Rightmove recently reported that this month the average asking price in estate agents’ windows had risen by 1.5% to just over £233,000 – a huge 44% more than the actual selling price of homes the previous month.

“The result of this difference of opinion is that the market is seizing up with low sales volumes reflecting that very few buyers and sellers can agree on a mutually uncomfortable price,” he said.

“Sellers need to wake up and realise that an optimistic guide price just makes you look greedy and unrealistic.”

Here in Camberley, first time buyers have been given an opportunity to get a foot on the housing ladder.

One of our favourite lenders Abbey, have launched an exclusive 85 per cent first time buyer loan to value.

This is a three-year fixed rate mortgage is available at 5.69 per cent with a £495 fee.  Borrowers are also offered free basic mortgage valuation and £250 cashback on completion.

Some of Abbey’s rates, especially fixed and tracker products have also been reduced by up to 0.2 per cent.

This reduction includes a two-year fixed rate at 3.25 per cent up to 70 per cent LTV. It was previously at 3.45 per cent.

The two-year tracker at 70 per cent LTV has also been reduced from 2.69 per cent to 2.59 per cent.

“Our latest rate cuts demonstrate our ongoing commitment to supporting intermediaries by consistently offering highly competitive mortgages to help them meet the needs of their clients,” Alan Mathewson, managing director of Abbey for Intermediaries, said.

Santander recently announced new three and five-year fixed and two-year tracker products available to existing current account and investment customers.

Please note this is not available to everyone, call me for further details, but it does offer hope for first time buyers in Surrey.

But although this is true, here in Camberley, the highest number of applications are for remortgages on two year deals, as clients are not sure about fixing for a longer period.

The second biggest applications for mortgages came from “Buy To Let” landlords.

Now that the recession is over, (since last January), I have seen a steady increase in the “Buy To let ” Market.

The government, local and national, are not going to build any more social housing at present, so that means there is going to be a shortage of property.

So the private landlord, is going to have to fill the gap.

If you want me to seek out the best “Buy To Let” Mortgage nationally, give me a call.

There is nothing he cannot see to turn his hand to.

Don’t expect him  build an extension to your house or add a new loft.

He doesn’t actually do jobs of that size, he concentrates on the small jobs, like small electrical jobs, small plumbing jobs, puts up shelves, tiling , painting etc.

He also will fit out bathrooms and kitchens, from start to finish.

Trevor is based in Camberley, but covers North East Hampshire.

His website is below..Tell him I sent you.

http://www.handymancamberley.co.uk/

But a reality check is required.

TO GET THE BEST RATE AVAILABLE YOU WILL NEED A DEPOSIT OF 25% … YIKES….

If you are buying a property locally valued at £150k you will need £37,500 just as a deposit. Now how many first time buyers can find that sort of money.

Yes with a 25% deposit you can get one of those low rates advertised 3.45% or 3.6%.

But if you only have 10% deposit, you are going to get offered a mortgage with a rate nearer to 6%.

It makes life very difficult for first time buyers, those who are desperate to move (for various reason,s change of job,  divorce etc.) and a lot of people are suffering.

All that money pumped into the financial industry by our government with the aim of helping the banks, but the banks and building industry are not playing fair.

How can you ask a young couple or single person to find 25% for a deposit on a property in this area.

Nearly all of the industry experts are saying the house prices have bottomed out, meaning that property prices have probably reached their lowest price and many estate agents and Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors are saying the same.

Banks and buiding societies that have recieved all those Billions from us, yes us, should be now lowering their criteria for lending and those who have deposits of 10-15% should get those special “Headline Rates” that are advertised.

Once we get people buying houses, whether they be first time buyers or movers, we will also see those people buying furniture and other household goods, which will help the national and local economies.

Please note that mortgage products (deals) come out on a daily basis, we keep our finger firmly on the pulse and so if you are thinking of buying  a property, or re-mortgaging your property, let us know by giving us  a call and we’ll do our best  to give you the benefit of our experience and contacts.

We try hard to be the best in the area.

Michael

Here is a quick press release for the Council of Mortgage Lenders, ( a very grand title don’t you think), they represent banks, building societies etc.

Gross mortgage lending declined to an estimated £12.4 billion in January, an 8% fall from £13.5 billion in December and a 52% fall from January 2008, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

A slight decline is typically experienced between December and January. However, this is the lowest monthly total since April 2001.

Bob Pannell, CML head of research, commented:

“Mortgage lending activity continues to be very weak and while people are searching eagerly for some signs of recovery, it would be unrealistic to expect a meaningful revival in lending in coming months. Even when conditions do improve, gross lending will be one of the later measures to recover.”

I have a friend who sells brand new houses locally for a large company, (sorry can’t say which company, she might get in trouble) and she told me that they have had their best month for over 7 months..

Now the truth is, they have reduced their prices (as everybody has to who really wants to sell), but at least they are selling.

Too many people are sitting in properties that they want to sell, but believe they should get the same price as they were quoted by the estate agent last year…hey it aint gonna happen.

People have to be realistic about there pricing.

But, its not all doom and gloom as the papers would like you to believe. Some areas in the Uk are doing well and prices have stabalised. There are a lot of property investors out there right now looking at buying up properties at 10% below today’s asking prices.

Why? because mortgages are cheap, there’s a shortage of housing and rents are high duh!

I’ve said it hear before on this blog, overall there is a shortage of houses for the growing Uk population, so in a supply and demand situation ie. lack of houses… price goes up eventually.

In any economy the value of “things” including houses go up and down and what I am saying are my personal thoughts.

But at then end of the day, you have to make the choice, but I would say get out there now get a bargain and buy a house.

Michael
01276 670777

mums

In a recent survey www.RightMove.co.uk found that  9 out of 10 possible sellers believe that now is not a good time to sell. However this has not stopped people putting their houses on the market at higher prices, despite reports in the media that house prices may fall even more.

Miles Shipside from RightMove says “In spite of 25,000 out of 28,000 potential homemovers in the Rightmove Survey stating it was a bad time to sell, sellers appear to have ignored their fellow homemovers’ assessment of market conditions and put prices up.

While sellers have been more conservative in their New Year bullishness than last year, they may regret not pricing more aggressively to capitalise on the spring surge in buyer interest.

Sales are being achieved at around 25% below peak prices, yet new sellers coming to market are starting out asking an average of only 10% less.

Serious sellers need to set their initial asking price more realistically to get one up on the competition and take advantage of increasing numbers of bargain-hunters who have set their own price floor ahead of the return of mainstream purchasers.”

“New sellers are 45% down compared to February last year. In spite of these being ideal trading-up conditions, discretionary sellers are being deterred by uncertainty over mortgage finance and employment, while pending repossessions were delayed by an informal Christmas amnesty.

Repossessions are still concentrated in relatively few areas of the country, though unfortunately record numbers are rumoured to be in the pipeline with some auction houses scheduling several ‘pile them high’ auctions

The availability of good quality property at distressed sale prices is likely to present a wider choice for owner-occupiers as opposed to just investors.”

I keep saying it..its a good time to buy. Go an grab a bargain and come talk to me about a mortgage

Michael

01276 670777

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