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The annual rate of house price growth edged higher in April, after two consecutive months of decline, according to Nationwide. House prices rose by 2.6% in the year to April to reach an average price of £213,000, up from £211,625 in March. In monthly terms prices rose by 0.2%, after falls in March and February, and the annual rate of growth remains down from 4.9% in April 2016. The share of cash transactions has dipped slightly since the introduction of the additional stamp duty levy on second properties, while first-time buyer levels are back "broadly in line" with pre-crisis levels, Nationwide added. Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said subdued economic activity and the ongoing squeeze on household budgets meant the slowdown would continue.
Financial Times (27/04/2018)
According to the latest housing market research from UK bank Halifax, only half of Britons expect house prices to rise, down from 58% last year, meaning confidence in house prices has remained at its lowest level since 2013. However, the survey showed that fewer people are negative about the market overall, with 17% predicting a fall in prices over the next year, down from 20% six months ago. People under 25 were the most pessimistic about buying or selling, while those aged between 55 and 64 were the most confident. Meanwhile fewer than a third of mortgage holders were concerned about the possibility of rising interest rates, down from 42% in 2014.
City AM (29/04/2018)
Ahead of the Government crackdown on unfair ground rent increases, the number of houses sold under leasehold agreements soared last year, according to analysis of Land Registry data by the ONS, which shows that 15.6% of new build houses were sold as leaseholds in 2017. The figures show that London has seen the biggest rise in new-build leasehold houses for any region in England and Wales since 2012, followed by the North West
The Daily Telegraph (02/04/2018)
House prices cost nearly eight times earnings on average in England and Wales last year. The Office for National Statistics said in 2017, full-time employees could typically expect to spend around 7.8 times their annual earnings on purchasing a home in England and Wales, up from 7.6 in 2016. The change was driven largely by the decreasing housing affordability in England, with no significant change in Wales, the report said. A regional breakdown shows London was the least affordable area with the average price relative to average earnings ratio stretching to 13.24, while the lowest regional ratio was in the North East at 5.18. The average house in 2017 rose 4.5% to £225,000, the ONS said.
The Times (26/04/2018)
Just 92,270 homes were sold in March, according to HM Revenue & Customs' latest figures, a 7.2% month-on-month fall and 11.8% lower than the same point a year ago. Brian Murphy, head of lending for Mortgage Advice Bureau, suggests that in the vast majority of towns and cities across the UK it is not a lack of consumer demand which is putting the brakes on the housing market - but what’s available to buy and lack of choice. Non-residential property transactions also decreased, slipping 7.9% between February and March, and down 12.1% compared with the same period last year.
Daily Mail (24/04/2018
Some 70,000 first-time buyers have collectively saved £159m in stamp duty since the exemption was introduced in November last year, an average of £2,300 each. The Government still collected around £1bn more in stamp duty (£12.9bn) in the 2017-18 tax year, compared to the previous 12 months. First-time buyers in London claimed the highest relief, according to HMRC, with residents in the capital claiming on average £4,300, almost double the national average.
City AM (26/04/2018)