More people want house prices to fall than to rise, BBC research has found.
That is the surprise finding of the first poll to test the assumption that house price falls are unpopular and therefore politically damaging.
Barely a fifth of people want house prices to rise - fewer than the number of people who want them to fall.
The poll of 1,005 people, commissioned by the BBC, found that only 22% said they wanted prices to go up (more…)
LONDON (Reuters) - Asking prices for property in England and Wales rose to a record high in May, a survey shows, with house price inflation accelerating despite expectations for a much weaker housing market this year.
Property Web site Rightmove said average asking prices rose 2.2 percent on a year ago between April 13 and May 10 to hit an average 242,500 pounds, compared with a 1.3 percent annual rise in the month before. (more…)
The Abbey has become the second big lender this week to make slight cuts to some of its mortgage rates.
LONDON (BBC News ) - All flexible and tracker rates are being cut by 0.05% while new borrowers with 25% deposits are seeing fixed rate deals being cut by up to 0.17%.
On Tuesday, the Nationwide building society cut some of its fixed rate loans for new borrowers by up to 0.3%.
The Abbey is making the reductions in anticipation of a cut in its own borrowing costs.
It said it hoped to benefit from the Bank of England’s recent plan to lend more money to commercial banks, in the hope of reducing their borrowing costs as measured by the London Inter Bank Offered Rate (Libor). (more…)
LONDON (Reuters) - Strong rental demand will underpin the buy-to-let market and help the country avoid a more painful housing crash, though some investors will be caught out as a number of mortgage lenders exit.
The buy-to-let market has surged in a decade that has seen house prices triple, attracting a range of investors since the market began in 1998 and growing to represent 10 percent of the total market and 12 percent of new mortgages in 2007. (more…)