Category: UK Housing
The news items published under this category are as follows.
Monday, December 01, 2008
Collapse in UK Mortgage Lending / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The Bank of England announced that UK mortgage lending collapsed in October, falling to the second lowest figure since records began at just £459mln, down 70% on the month and only 6% of the October 2007 levels which followed the collapse of Northern Rock Bank in Sept 07. The data continues to suggest that bank lending continues to tighten despite the £500 billion bank bailout of early October.Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Nationwide UK House Price Forecasts Track Record / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The latest housing market commentary from the Nationwide
Chief Economist Fionnuala Earley states - "In spite of the moderation in house price falls recorded in November, with the economy in recession, conditions do not appear very favourable for a swift recovery in the housing market. The labour market is weakening, which will inevitably hinder market demand, particularly when property remains expensive relative to earnings. With prices falling at their current rate there is also little incentive for new borrowers to hurry into the market. However, there are a number of measures which should provide some support to the market in general and help existing and potential homeowners in these difficult times."Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, November 27, 2008
UK House Price Falls Moderate in November to -0.4% / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Nationwide
• Prices fall by 0.4% in November• Annual rate of fall moderates to 13.9%
• Deep interest rate cuts will provide support for borrowers
• Fiscal measures may help housing market indirectly, but policies to support funding markets may be more likely to speed recovery
Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Kirstie and Phil's Location, Location, Location Returns as UK House Prices Crash / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Nadeem_Walayat
Kirstie and Phil self professed property experts make a return to the UK's TV screens with a more muted version of their long standing delusionally bullish UK property candy floss show titled location, location, location that helped feed the get on the property ladder frenzy of the last few years.Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, November 07, 2008
UK Housing Market 15% Crash Forecast Fulfilled / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The latest house price data by the Halifax shows that UK house prices have fallen by more than 16% from the peak of August 2007 and October 2008. The crash in both US and UK housing markets over the last 12 months was increasingly followed in September by the bankrupt banks collapsing one by one like a chain of dominos with governments rushing to their rescue during September and early october to the tune of unheard of amounts of tax payers money that now runs to collectively over $3 trillion. This first triggered near panic interest rate cuts in October of 0.5% which was yesterday followed by true panic cut of 1.5% which takes UK interests rates down to 50 year lows.Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, October 30, 2008
UK House Prices Crash by 14.6% / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Nationwide
- Prices fall by 1.4% in October
- Reluctance of sellers to reduce asking prices could be hindering market activity
- Recognition that the UK is heading into recession opens door to sharp cuts in rates
Thursday, October 02, 2008
UK House Price Crash Worse than 1990's Nationwide / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Nationwide
• The price of a typical house fell by 1.7% in September• Market weakness not surprising given ongoing turmoil and many risks remain
• House prices will continue to fall in short term, but longer term prospects are more sound Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
UK House Price Crash Spreads Economic Chill Implying Interest Rate Cuts / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Nationwide
- The price of a typical house fell by 1.9% in August
- More borrowers opt for fixed rate loans to protect their payments in uncertain times
- Gloomy Governor opens the door to rate cuts
| Headlines | August 2008 | July 2008 |
| Monthly index * Q1 '93 = 100 | 329.5 | 335.9 |
| Monthly change* | -1.9% | -1.5% |
| Annual change | -10.5% | -8.1% |
| Average price | £164,654 | £169,316 |
Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
UK Housing Market Rescue Plan Will Fail as Government Seeks to Lasso First Time Buyers / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Nadeem_Walayat
Whilst house prices are tumbling at the rate of 2% a month, the labour government finally revealed its feeble attempt to interfere with market forces by suspending the 1% stamp duty taxed on house purchases on properties up to a value of £175,000 for a period of 1 year. Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
UK Idiotic Tax Policy Demolishes Properties / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Mike_Shedlock
Previously we discussed the Growing Herd Of White Elephants in the US. Today, let's take a look at white elephants in the UK.Preemptive White Elephant Demolition
The Telegraph is reporting Buildings razed turning British cities into 'bombsites' .
Hundreds of buildings are being razed as a result of an empty property tax, turning British cities into "bombsites", a government regeneration chief said.
Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, August 08, 2008
UK Housing Market Freezes as Chancellor Dithers Over Stamp Duty / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The crashing UK housing market is heading for a further deep freeze following speculation that the Chancellor, Alistair Darling is about to suspend the Stamp Duty tax charged on house purchases in an attempt to stabalise the housing market. The few buyers that are in a position to proceed with home purchases are now delaying completing contracts or pulling out altogether and thereby likely to make the collapse in the level of market transactions even worse, thus contributing to the squeeze on sellers, estate agents and other housing market transaction beneficiaries.Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, July 31, 2008
UK House Prices Falls Accelerate to -8.1% / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Nationwide
- The price of a typical house fell by 1.7% in July
- The price of a typical house is now £15,000 lower than this time last year
- Housing purchase activity reaches a new low
- Weakening economic conditions raise the likelihood of earlier interest rate cuts
Monday, July 28, 2008
UK House Prices to Rise by 25% States National Housing Federation / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The National Housing Federation (NHF) is forecasting that UK house prices will rise by 25% by 2013, that will take house prices upto an estimated £274,000 by 2013 from their current levels of approx £180,000 based on the Halifax House Price data. Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
UK House Price Crash of Summer 2008 / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The latest UK house price data as released by Rightmove shows that the UK housing market crash continues to accelerate by registering a fall of 1.8% for July 08. The rate of descent on an annualised basis now extends to -11% and on a quarterly basis to -6.7%, far above the originally forecast crash rate of 5% per quarter as per analysis of November 2007 for the quarter April to June 08, which came in at -5.8%. The housing market is in full panic selling mode, as property owners slashing prices are met with silence from potential home buyers. Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, July 11, 2008
UK House Price Crash In Progress! / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The Halifax house price data for June revealed a 2% fall in house prices for the month or a loss of value of £3,500 from May, house prices are now down 6.1% on an seasonally adjusted basis, which is a far cry from March 2008 when the bank's chief economist was painting a bullish picture for house prices. However the housing market is in CRASH mode for the quarter April to June 08, as forecast by the Market Oracle in November 2007 -
"house prices could register a drop of as much as 5% in the quarter April 08 to June 08" Read full article... Read full article...
Saturday, July 05, 2008
UK Housing Bust to Hit British Pound / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Money_and_Markets
Jack Crooks writes: I've pointed out many times here in my Money and Markets column that interest rates and economic growth are always the two primary fundamental drivers of currency prices. Therefore, it's no stretch to conclude that housing has been the Achilles' heel for the U.S. dollar.
But what if there's another major currency country that has a much worse outlook for its housing market? Would we then expect bad housing news to play a similar role in pushing its respective currency lower? I think the short answer is: Yes!
Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
UK House Price Crash is Here as Forecast! / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The Nationwide following on from a series of house price data releases by several mortgage banks and institutions in recent weeks confirmed that UK House price declines are set to accelerate over the summer months as the market heads for a crash that I first warned of occurring in the quarter April to June 2008 in November 2007. -
"house prices could register a drop of as much as 5% in the quarter April 08 to June 08"Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
UK Housing Market Transactions Slump to Historic Low / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Nationwide
• House prices fell by 0.9% in June, less than half the rate of the previous month• Prices are 6.3% lower than this time last year, but remain 4% higher than 2 years ago
• House purchase transactions remain subdued across the UK
• Northern Irish and Scottish activity levels stand out at each extreme
Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, June 27, 2008
UK Housing Bear Market Threatening Economic Deflation / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Nadeem_Walayat
May saw another sharp plunge in UK house prices towards what is likely to be termed as a mini-crash in UK housing market for the quarter April to June 08. Many homeowners who bought early into the current boom may be consoling themselves with having built up an healthy level of equity that is able to weather the downturn in UK housing market, after all someone buying 10 years ago would have racked up gains of over 180% to the 2007 peak and even after the initial forecast for a 2 year bear market if 15% would still stand to be some 140% richer. Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
UK Housing Mortgage Meltdown for Purchases and Equity Withdrawals / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Nadeem_Walayat
Mortgages for home purchases and equity withdrawals continues to slump for May data released by the British Bankers Association, falling to just 27,968 approved loans down from 34,752 for April 08 and down by 56% from a year earlier. These are the worst lending figures since the BBA started recording mortgage data in 1997 and confirms that the UK housing market is trending towards a 1990's style housing market depression. Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, June 23, 2008
UK House Prices GDP Adjusted Real Trend Forecast / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The UK housing bear market continues to gather momentum as the mainstream increasingly awakens to the prospects of falling house prices following house prices going negative on a year on year basis for Aprils house price data.
This analysis forms part of a series of articles that seeks to extend the current Market Oracle forecast forward for several years well beyond the current forecast for a 15% fall in nominal house prices between the August 2007 and August 2009 (as of August 2007).
Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, June 20, 2008
UK Property Auction Sale Values Slump by 44% From a Year Ago / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: David_Sandeman
Welcome to the June newsletter that reviews auction activity for May 2008. Continuing market conditions have seen the overall sales rate slip 3 points from last month to 56%. It should not be forgotten however that the auction process did sell over 2,100 lots in May, no mean achievement in this market. Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
How Inflation Will Destroy Home Owners Equity / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The UK housing boom has seen house prices rise from a low of £60.096 in 1993 (Halifax UK:NSA) to a high of £201.081 by August 2007. A whopping gain of 334%. The below graph illustrates the remarkable strong trend higher, where even the measured forecast downtrend of 15% only measures as a minor blip on the long-term trend of ever higher house prices.Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
UK House Prices Real Inflation Adjusted Long-term Trend / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Nadeem_Walayat
In recent months inflation has started to breakout to the upside, as CPI began to soar in February, hitting 3% in April and destined to pass 4% this year, busting straight through the Bank of England's 3% upper limit.
Leaving aside the headline house prices, inflation has huge consequences for the real value of house prices which impacts on the wealth effect of the consumer economy which comprises some 65% of the UK economy.
Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
UK Housing Market Seizes Up / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Mike_Shedlock
The Telegraph is reporting House sales fall is steepest since the 1970s .The number of houses changing hands has "collapsed" to the lowest level in 30 years, an influential housing market survey shows today. Its report also says that gazundering, the controversial practice of buyers dropping their offer price after they have agreed to purchase a property, has returned.
Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, June 06, 2008
UK House Price Forecast 2008- Bear Market is Only Beginning / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Nadeem_Walayat
UK House Prices, the current bottom line - Down 6.4% year on year, Down £14,600 from the peak, Down 7.2% from the peak. Down 3.6% on a quarterly basis. The Halifax, Britains biggest mortgage bank's housing market data for May 08 continues to confirm the Market Oracle forecast for a 15% drop from August 07 to August 09, and a 7.5% drop for 2008. Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Housing Market Boom and Bust Cycles Driven by Real House Price Values / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The UK housing bear market is now into its 9th month as of the peak in August 2007. This article analyses the real value of UK houses prices based on average earnings as part of ongoing preliminary analysis towards the extension of the existing 2 year housing market forecast for a 15% drop from August 2007 to August 2009.Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Nationwide- UK House Prices Plunge by £5,000, 2.5% in May / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Nationwide
• House prices fell by 2.5% in May• Prices are 4.4% lower than this time last year, but remain 5% higher than 2 years ago
• Falling house prices combined with higher inflation makes MPC decision more difficult still
• Borrowers are better placed to weather the storm than in the 1990s
• Tighter credit conditions should help the longer term sustainability of the market
Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
US and UK Housing Bear Market Trends / News_Letter / UK Housing
By: NewsLetter
The housing bear markets continue to bite into economic activity as the US heads for recession this year and the UK during 2009. The US is still showing no signs of a housing bottom having fallen by 3.1% in the first quarter of 2008 according to government statistics, and foreclosures rising to a all time high as borrowers walk away from homes sinking into negative equity. The UK housing bear market has now entered its 9th month following the peak of August 2007, having gone negative on a year on year basis for April 08 data, which was one of the primary reasons for the meltdown in the UK Labour parties vote in the recent string of May elections.Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, May 26, 2008
US and UK Housing Bear Market Trends / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The housing bear markets continue to bite into economic activity as the US heads for recession this year and the UK during 2009. The US is still showing no signs of a housing bottom having fallen by 3.1% in the first quarter of 2008 according to government statistics, and foreclosures rising to a all time high as borrowers walk away from homes sinking into negative equity. The UK housing bear market has now entered its 9th month following the peak of August 2007, having gone negative on a year on year basis for April 08 data, which was one of the primary reasons for the meltdown in the UK Labour parties vote in the recent string of May elections.Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, May 23, 2008
UK Auction Houses See Surge in Lots Offered and Slump in Sales / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: David_Sandeman
Welcome to the May newsletter that looks primarily at auction activity in April 2008.
The lack of liquidity in the money markets has again been reflected in the subdued sale rate with only 59% of lots finding buyers. This is the national figure and do take a look at the regional variation which is shown in the tables at the bottom of this newsletter.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Council of Mortgage Lenders 2008 Housing Market Forecast Demolished / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The Council of Mortgage Lender (CML) revised their forecast for UK House prices for 2008 from an anticipated rise of 1% as of Oct 07 to now project a fall in prices of 7%. The CML, inline with its member institutions has a vested interest in talking up the housing market as evidenced by the inaccuracy of their housing market forecasts during periods of falling house prices.
As a reminder to readers, the Market Oracle forecast for UK house prices made ahead of the actual peak in the housing market in August 2007 is for a 15% drop over 2 years from August 2007 to August 2009, therefore forecasting a 7% to 7.5% drop for the year 2008.
Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Caroline Flint UK Housing Market Briefing Notes in FULL / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Nadeem_Walayat
Caroline Flint the UK housing ministers full cabinet meeting first page briefing notes on the state of the UK housing market follows in full. In summary the housing minister expects UK house prices to fall this year by between 5% and 10% which is precisely in line with the Market Oracle forecast for a 7.5% drop for 2008 as of August 2007 (UK House prices to fall by 15% between August 2007 and August 2009).Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, May 12, 2008
Credit Crunch Bites UK Mortgage Payers as Risk of Repossession Soars / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The number of home owners at risk of repossession surged in the first quarter of 2008. Home owners served with county court claims jumped by 16% to 38,700. Home owners actually issued with eviction orders surged by 17% to 27,500. The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) upped their estimate for the number of repossessions for 2008 to 45,000. The Market Oracle forecast as of August 07 is for 70,000 repossessions this year, though the actual number will probably be around 60,000 as the CML repossession statistics tend to under report the true number of repossessions.Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, May 11, 2008
UK Housing Market Surge In Mortgage Repossession Orders / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Mick_Phoenix
Welcome to the Weekly Report. This week we look at Gordon Brown the UK Prime Minister, US and UK mortgage markets and the US consumer.
We are all aware of the US mortgage problems which are now beginning to show up within prime mortgages but some people, outside the UK, might not be so aware of the problem growing in the 5th largest economy in the World.
Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, May 08, 2008
UK House Prices Tumbling- Interest Rate Conundrum / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Nadeem_Walayat
UK house price data from Britains biggest mortgage banks for April 08 now show negative house price inflation year on year. Statistics released earlier than usual by the the Nationwide that house prices have now fallen by 1% on a year earlier, closely followed by the Halifax that also shows house prices down by 1%. This was originally forecast by the Market Oracle for the April 2008 house price data in the analysis of November 2007.
Despite the fall, the Nationwide put a positive spin on bad news by alluding to the Bank of England rate cuts and liquidly measures that would stabalise the housing market: "the Bank’s measures should help to restore a more orderly transition and ultimately bring about a more stable market."
Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
UK Housing Market Weakness Stretches into April / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Nationwide
- House prices fell for the sixth consecutive month in April
- The price of a typical house is now 1% lower than this time last year
- The Bank of England bond exchange scheme should help to improve financial market liquidity
- More than 5 million borrowers have benefited from Bank of England rate cuts
Sunday, April 20, 2008
UK House Price Futures Market Confirms Sharp Fall in House Prices During 2008 / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The UK House price futures market has been in existence for some 10 years now and is based on the Halifax House Price Index data. The market is managed by IG Index and operates under the principle of a spread betting market maker.
Current IG Index quotes against actual published Halifax Index data :
Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Housing Market Worst Since 1978- Heading for April Apocalypse? / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) report confirms that the UK housing market is in countrywide meltdown mode. House prices are falling at their fastest pace in 30 years (since records began). The net balance between those reporting price rises against price falls deteriorated to a reading of -78.5 in the three months to March 08, from -65.7 in February 08.Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, April 11, 2008
Tumbling UK Housing Market Leading to Sterling Devaluation / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Gary_Dorsch
Economic events in the United States often provide a sneak preview of what's around the corner for the British economy. Both countries run large external trade deficits, and much like the US, the British economy has been expanding on little else than the availability of easy credit and asset price inflation in the housing market. The ties between the US and UK run even deeper. About half of the profits for FTSE companies come from overseas, and 15% from US-based affiliates. Imaginative lending practices fueled a doubling of British home prices over the past six-years, the key engine of growth for the world's fifth largest economy. But British borrowers now face a perilous situation where their home values are tumbling, and the local banking oligarchs are lifting their lending rates, in order to recoup big losses of up to 20 billion pounds in toxic sub-prime mortgages.
Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
UK House Prices Plunge Over the Cliff / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Nadeem_Walayat
UK house prices plunged by 2.5% in March (Halifax seasonally adjusted), the fall was far bigger than estimates and points to an acceleration in the pace of house price falls across the UK.
The credit crisis is continuing to lead to a much tighter mortgage lending environment as highlighted in December's article. Mortgages continue to vanish from lenders shelves, with the total number of products having been reduced from 11,000 in May 2007 to just over 3000 today. The tightening is as a consequence of risk averse lenders seeking to repair their balance sheets from US mortgage related losses and batton down the hatches in advance of a surge in repossessions and mortgage defaults amongst UK borrowers.
Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
UK Housing Mortgage Market Crunch / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The UK housing market continues to trend lower towards the Market Oracle forecast of negative house price inflation on release of Aprils house price data in May. The Housing market was hit today by further news of withdrawal of more mortgage products that has seen the mortgage products market now shrink by 2/3rds from a year earlier. First Direct announced that it would no longer be offering mortgage products to new customers. This follows hot on the heals of many banks and building societies making borrowing far more difficult, the aim being to reduce their exposure to the UK mortgage market.Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, March 28, 2008
Falling UK House Prices Point to April Rate Cut / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Nationwide
- House price growth slows to lowest level in twelve years
- Clear change in consumers’ housing market sentiment
- Outlook more downbeat, but within forecast range
- MPC expected to bring rate cut forward to April
Monday, March 24, 2008
BBC Shows Re-runs of Old Property Shows From the Housing Boom / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Nadeem_Walayat
It can be confusing watching UK broadcast TV housing market programming, as I am finding that the property shows being aired are more often repeats captured from the heights of the housing boom. Viewers could be confused into thinking that what they are watching is current programming as usually there is no clear indication of the date of the original filming.Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Calls on the Government and the Mortgage Industry to Help UK Homebuyers / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: MoneyFacts
On the eve of the launch of the first ever Moneyfacts mortgage report “Tougher times in the UK residential mortgage market”, Andrew Hagger of Moneyfacts.co.uk comments on the following topics:Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
RICS Data Confirms UK Housing Market Heading for 1990's Style Crash / Housing-Market / UK Housing
By: Nadeem_Walayat
A matter of days after soothing words on the prospects for UK house prices for 2008 were issued by the chief economist of Britain's largest Mortgage Bank (The Halifax), the Royal Institute of
Chartered Surveyors released data today which shows the worst margin between rising and falling house prices since the height of the 1990's property crash.
The RICS data shows that only 4% of surveyors reported a price rise against 57% reporting price falls, thus resulting in a net negative reading of 53%, which seasonally adjusts to a 64% negative reading, the worst since June 1990. Stocks of unsold inventory continue to build up on surveyors books to levels not seen in a decade and up more than 50% over the last 12 months.
Read full article... Read full article...