HSBC banking unit First Direct began offering mortgages to new customers yesterday after pulling all new products on 1st April. Products were stoped due to a massive influx in applications on some of its mortgage deals.
This news follows Halifax cutting interest rates on some of its mortgage deals recently and Abbey and Nationwide doing similar cuts to their products within the last few weeks due to decreasing borrowing costs.
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…)
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…)
UK house prices could fall “at best” by 5-10% this year, according to secret Cabinet briefing notes accidentally revealed by a housing minister.
The briefing note was photographed in Downing Street
The notes - prepared by officials for Caroline Flint - also said: “We can’t know how bad it will get.”
Ms Flint, who was photographed with the notes as she entered No 10 for a Cabinet meeting, shrugged the incident off saying: “These things happen”. (more…)
Controversial sale and rent back firms are to be investigated by the Office of Fair Trade (OFT) amid fears of a growing consumer scandal.
The April edition of the Rightmove.co.uk House Price Index is now available, showing trends in asking prices up to 12th April 2008. Based on circa 90% of the property market, the House Price Index is the leading indicator of residential property prices in England and Wales. Click here to access your free copy of the report.
New Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) figures reveal positives and negatives about the
Mortgage lending for house purchase remained subdued in March but remortgaging levels held up well in the face of funding constraints, according to data released today by the Council of Mortgage Lenders. The number of loans for house purchase declined to 46,500 in March, down 1% from 47,200 in February and 48% from 89,000 in March 2007.
Gross mortgage lending was £75 billion in the first quarter, down from £83.9 billion in the first quarter of 2007. (more…)
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