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Despite continuing Brexit uncertainty, a total of 85,931 mortgages were approved by the main high street banks in August and mortgage approvals for home purchases were 3.2% higher than in 2018, according to data from UK Finance. Remortgage approvals were 0.1% higher and approvals for other secured borrowing were 0.4% lower than August last year. Mike Scott, chief property analyst at Yopa, comments: “This suggests that housing market activity has now completely recovered from the slowdown around the first Brexit deadline in March. A new slowdown may soon begin, as the October deadline draws closer and the political uncertainty seems no closer to resolution, but it is likely that the market will again recover quickly once the short-term outlook is clearer.”
City AM (25/09/2019)
Property transactions in August increased from the previous month while falling slightly year-on-year, according to new data from HMRC . There were 99,890 residential deals in the month, down 0.9% on last year but up 15.8% on July 2019.
City AM (24/09/2019)
House prices in East London have risen 37% over the past five years, driven by the numerous developments in and around the Docklands area, outperforming the rest of the capital. Of the 541 tall buildings in the pipeline for London, according to New London Architecture, the bulk are in Tower Hamlets and Greenwich, while part of the Royal Docks is being turned into the Asian Business Port, which will generate 30,000 jobs and add £6bn to the UK economy. New developments include Telford Homes’ New Garden Quarter in Stratford, a collection of upside-down duplexes with bedrooms on the ground floor and large living areas upstairs. Three-bedroom homes there start from £725,000. Elsewhere, a studio flat at EcoWorld’s Aberfeldy Village in Poplar, featuring floor-to-ceiling windows, a 24-hour concierge, and a gym, can be had from £330,000, rising to £530,000 for a two-bedroom property. Further out, at Upton Gardens, Barratt’s conversion of West Ham’s Boleyn Ground into 842 new homes, offers one-bedroom homes from £359,000.
Evening Standard (18/09/2019)
London’s prime property market is continuing to struggle amid political uncertainty and higher stamp duties, despite increased demand from overseas on the back of the weak pound. More than half of homes in central London's most exclusive boroughs were withdrawn from the market in Q2 of 2019, according to Lonres. The figure has risen steadily since 2014, when it ranged between 30 and 40%. Marcus Dixon, head of research at Lonres, said that changes to stamp duty in 2014 and 2016 and the uncertainty surrounding the EU referendum in 2016 had hit the market. "Indeed, since 2016 more properties have been removed from the market due to a withdrawal than a sale," he said.
The Times (16/09/2019)
July 2019 saw almost 2,000 more first-time buyers join the property ladder compared to the same month last year, according to official data. UK Finance data revealed that there were 32,640 new first-time buyer mortgages completed in July, some 5.8% more than in the same month last year. The number of people moving house remained similar year on year. UK Finance said there were 32,710 home-mover mortgages completed in July, just 1.4% more than in the same month in 2018. This means that in July, there were just 70 more homeowners moving house than there were first-time buyers completing a mortgage on their first property. Meanwhile, there were 5,800 new buy-to-let home purchase mortgages in July, an increase of 5.5%. Remortgages with additional borrowing slumped 7.1% in July, while pound-for-pound remortgages also fell 12.9%.
Daily Mail (17/09/2019) The Times (17/09/2019)
Ultra-long mortgage deals are leading to homeowners unwittingly paying tens of thousands of pounds more in interest payments, according to industry experts. There has been an increase in the number of mortgages of 35 years or more and high house prices have forced borrowers to pay back their loans over a longer period in order to keep monthly repayments at a manageable level. However, industry experts have warned that consumers may have sleepwalked into these deals without realising the true cost, as thousands of loans were taken out without adequate financial advice. An analysis by Quilter, the wealth manager, revealed that an average first-time buyer who purchases a house worth £193,701 will pay £80,000 more if they spread repayments over 35 years than over the traditional term of 25 years.
The Sunday Telegraph (15/09/2019)