Stamp duty and land tax has been abolished for properties up to £250k.

This I believe, will kick start a revival in the buying and selling of homes. Certainly I know that my estate agent friends have welcomed the best piece of news for the housing industry in almost 3 years.

According to some industry experts, property prices now more affordable than at any time since in 2003. So Now is a good time to buy.

Now as I mentioned, this proposal is for first time buyers only and so I am guessing that it will be down to the solicitor/coveyancer to do the appropriate checks as I believe this will create a minefield for them as they will have to do all the checks to see if the house-buyers have bought a property before.

So if you are a genuine first time buyer you should have no problems.

Buying a property has become a little easier in the last few months, as there are many more products (mortgages) available, especially if you have a deposit of 10% or more.

I am certainly seeing an increase in not only enquiries about mortgages, but also sales. Meaning that there are more and more people returning to the market and buying properties.

Yes it was a good piece of news today from the Chancellor and it grabbed the headlines, but then there is an election in a couple of months.

If you need any help or advice, please get in touch 01276 670777

Michael

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.

This increased number of sales can be explained in part by a time lag between the increased number of house hunters in January settling on a house purchase in February. The level of housing stock also remained stable this month which is another positive indicator of a strengthening market.

In addition to this, the FTB (first time buyers) segment of the market continued to fare well, with a slight increase on last month’s figures which brought them in line with the percentage of FTB buyers on the market this time last year.

The number of people registering with an agent dropped in comparison to last month’s figures. There are a number of reasons for this; the ongoing bad weather being an obvious barrier for many house hunters. February is also a tough month in terms of people receiving their credit card bills from Christmas.

The realisation of the end of the Stamp Duty holiday may also be a contributory factor. To conclude, February was relatively stable and continued to suggest strength in the gradually improving housing market

NUMBER OF HOUSE-HUNTERS

The number of house-hunters registered per branch decreased from 291 in January to 258 in February. This month’s figure is not totally unexpected, with the continuing bad weather making it difficult for people to attend viewings.

Many people are also receiving their credit card bills in February for their Christmas excesses which is likely to deter some house hunters from registering.

Even though it is the lowest figure recorded over the last 12 months, it isn’t a true reflection of the current level of demand. Levels are expected to pick up amongst house hunters as the weather improves”.

So as you can see, the estate agents are confident and so should we be as home owners, that the value of our property in Surrey is in demand should we decide to sell and other recent data suggests that the value in property has increased in the last 6 months.

Michael Usher Member SHBN
www.mumsltd.co.uk

I belong to Surrey Heath Business Network.

It’s an early start at 7.15, but I find it well worth it as I get to meet so many other business professionals and people who run their own businesses.

The group is friendly and down-to-earth yet we still manage to get referrals done in a very professional way.

One of the other thinks that find rather good about going to an early breakfast is the fact that I can get a fried breakfast which is something I don’t often get home, which keeps me going for the rest of the day.

So why not join me any Wednesday morning at the  SHBN business breakfast.

If you want to come, give me a call and I’ll gladly bring you.

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 in the number of properties coming to market during the month, with over 90,000 new listings on Rightmove. Sellers appear to be hoping for a prosperous new year, and are asking an average of 3.2% more than last month.

This average rise of over £7,000 is surprising given the difficult UK and global economic picture. However property in popular locations remains in short supply, supporting upwards price pressure, as seen in London where the average asking price this month is the highest we have ever recorded.

Miles Shipside, commercial director of Rightmove comments:

“A price jump of over 3% is more comparable to the pre-credit-crunch boom-times. Sellers are setting their sights higher, and some agents are going along with them in order to win scarce instructions.

“Property for sale remains scarce in popular areas, but new supply to the market has to be priced at what buyers are willing and able to pay. An average increase of over £7,000 may prove to be a bit too spicy for some buyers’ tastes, now that economic constraints have forced them to develop a simpler palate.”

Supply of new sellers continues upward trend

The number of properties coming to market is up by 19.8% on the same period in 2009. It should be noted that the amount of new stock in January 2009 was constrained by the introduction of the ban on marketing a property until its Home Information Pack had been prepared, and this has exaggerated this month’s increase.

New property listings are still down around 37% on the average numbers of properties coming to market recorded in the same period from 2005 to 2008. Average stock for sale per estate agent branch remains static at 63, with property in the more popular locations still in short supply.

East Anglia and the South East show least recovery in new supply, still 45% and 43% down respectively on average levels seen at this time of year between 2005 and 2008. Conversely, the North region shows supply recovery to within 6% of 2005-08 levels.

Shipside comments:

“Where supply remains well below historic levels, which is especially noticeable in parts of the south, upwards price pressure looks sustainable. Sellers whose research indicates there are few properties like theirs on the local market have a spring window of opportunity.

“Where property supply is closer to pre-crunch levels, sellers should price more aggressively having critically compared their property to recent actual sales as well as to what’s currently on the market.”

January search activity sets new records

Rightmove site traffic is a good barometer of prospective buyer intent, with January proving to be a record month. Pages viewed were up 29% on January 2009, at 710 million. Mondays are the busiest days, with the post weekend period being the most popular time to search for what is available, including new listings and price reductions.

For the first time, the number of visitors to our site passed the one million threshold in a single day on the 25th of January, and seventeen days in the month exceeded the previous record day from August of last year.

January is the traditional time for bargain hunters to start shopping around, though with prices recovering there will be fewer bargains to be had this year, and agents and sellers may have to work harder to put a deal together.

Shipside observes:

“The record site activity ties in with the findings of the Q1 Rightmove Consumer Confidence Survey, where 62% of the 32,000 surveyed stated they believe it is a good time to buy. However, many of those searching are likely to have a degree of nervousness about the economic outlook, with only 11.1% of those surveyed believing that the country’s current economic conditions are favourable.

“With finance still tight, properties will have to be beautifully presented and keenly priced in order to convert this high level of buyer interest into firmer commitment.”

Can financial fundamentals support this rate of increase?

Average national asking prices are now 6.1% (£13,300) higher than a year ago. We forecast that new property coming to the market will continue to be at higher prices in the first half of 2010, though sellers must be aware of the paradigm shift that has occurred in the residential mortgage-backed securities market.

Before the deregulation of the late 1980s, lenders relied upon savers’ deposits to fund a more restricted mortgage market. This deregulation was then followed by ten years or more of competitively driven innovation to create a seemingly virtuous circle of mortgage supply and demand.

The circle has been broken by the banking crisis. A return to the peak levels of sales and mortgage transactions will have to await a return to previous wholesale funding methods, or a new variant, as the gap is too large to be filled by retail deposits when the Bank of England winds down its support for the mortgage market.

Shipside comments:

“Sellers are starting to appear in greater numbers, but they must realise this market is more akin to the mortgage-rationed times of the 1970s and 1980s than to more recent times of relatively easy mortgage availability.

“For individual sellers it’s hard to grasp the bigger picture and they rightly hope they will find a buyer who can get the required share of the rationed finance that is available. This works after a fashion while the number of sellers remains limited. However if sellers return to the market in larger numbers the current upwards price pressure will not be sustainable with the restricted number of buyers.”

Hope you find this useful.

If I can help you in any way please do not hesitate to give me a call.

Michael

email; michael@mumsltd.co.uk

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 at the start of 2010, increasing by a seasonally adjusted 1.2% month-on-month in January.

The 3 month on 3 month rate of change – usually a smoother indicator of the near term trend – dipped slightly from 2.3% in December to 2.1 % in January, but this primarily reflects the smaller price increases recorded in November and December.

At £163,481, the average price of a typical UK property cost 8.6% more than a year earlier in January, up from 5.9% in December. Unless there is a fall in property values in February, annual house price inflation is likely to move into double-digit territory next month for the first time since May 2007.”

All sounds good to me.

Need help or advice in getting a mortgage, please give me a call

Michael Usher
01276 670777

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/

I was invited to Flour Daniel, one of the largest local companies.

The talk was centred around “Getting Your First Mortgage”.

I gave a powerpoint presentation, along with Matt Penfold a former Estate agent who now works with me in the Frimley office.

Matt showed using a graph how the value of property had performed over the last 50 years. He showed that despite having some decreases in value, property could be seen as a long term investment with property prices nationally having doubled in value every 8-10 years. He also gave examples of property prices in Yateley over the last 10 years.

I gave a presentation with the latest information on mortgage rates, types of mortgages available and amongst other thing, where to get your deposit from…

After lunch we had a lively question and answer session and these young people really had some great questions lined up for us.

Matt Nicola and Yours Truly

I must say that I have given many talks in my time, but this one with these young people who really were interested the subject, was a very pleasant experience.

If I can give a talk to your group on any subject relating to the mortgage business, please contact me via the office number or blog.

Michael

The annual rate of house price falls eased from 15% in April to 11.3%, with a typical home now costing £154,016.

Over the past three months, house prices fell by 0.5% compared with the previous three-month period, the lowest quarterly drop since January last year.

But lets not get too carried away here.

These kind of headlines may sell newspapers and the information for the Nationwide is in the public domain. But I hope that people generally wont jump the bandwagon.

This could well be a false dawn and sellers might just be tempted to put up their prices too early, led by estate agents who promise to sell at a higher price than the market allows.

Although I am optimistic about the future of property in the local area and feel that prices will go up over time, the way this headline is being presented in the media, is that the green shoots of recovery have started.

I hope they have and certainly we are the busiest we have been for months, but we are still not out of the BIG R, officially anyway.

But there is no doubt that there is more confidence in the market. I know of one family who were gazumped last week when another buyer upped the price on a property being sold for £295k by £8k and we haven’t had that for a while.

But there is a definite shortage of property for sale as people have decided to stay in their existing home and get the builders in to extend. Plus of course it is so expensive to sell your property…..but don’t get me started on that.

Estate agent friends of mine report there 3 or 4 people going after 1 property and in this kind of scenario, the buyer has every right to put their price up because it is in demand.

So I say good luck to anyone who is in that situation, but I hope we don’t all get carried away and forget that a house is an investment for the future and one of the best investment you can make.

Plus one set of figures doesn’t give you the whole picture.

If I can be of help please contact me or one of my staff.

Michael

email: michael@mumsltd.co.uk

I Came across this advice in a video from the BBC.

Thought it might be worth an airing here.

The local newspaper contacted me recently for comments, this is what I told them and they published the article last week.

Local mortgage expert Michael Usher has noticed a huge increase in the number of first time buyers visiting his offices in Frimley High Street.

“We have seen record numbers of first time buyers seeking our advice over the last month. They are doing the groundwork now in readiness for when the market changes.

We speak to a great number of estate agents on a daily basis and they are reinforcing what we are seeing, that the market is moving and that many more first time buyers are visiting properties and then trying to get their mortgage in place, in case they find the ideal property.

The market is changing and for the better, but the banks and building societies need to kick start the process and get more mortgage products on the market, especially for first time buyers.

Although there are some lenders’s headline rates being advertised at 3% or 4%, these are only available for buyers with larger deposits. Typically first time buyers have deposits of around 10% and for that kind of deposit you can get a mortgage with an interest rate of 6% and with a 15% deposit you can get a mortgage with a rate of 5.5%.

A lot of lenders will advertise these 3% low rates just to “hook you in”, to coin a term used in a TV advertisement, but these low rates do come with other financial costs, such as lenders fee or a high redemption fee.

When first time buyers come to us, we offer straight-forward advice, we tell them to continue viewing the market, to get a proper feel, to see what is available out there in their price range and to learn to negotiate, because the more they are out there the more they will learn. Then come back to us and we can give them proper advice and offer a choice of mortgages dependent on the deposit available”

Michael Usher is an independent mortgage adviser based in Frimley Surrey.