Docklands News

Figures from the Office for National Statistics suggest that the UK’s housing market is showing signs of slowing down as rising mortgage rates hit demand. House prices rose by 0.9% to a record £295,903 in August, the data shows, with this a 13.6% increase on August 2021. Despite the increase, growth was slower than the 16% seen in the year to July. The average house price in Scotland increased by 9.7% over the year to August hitting a record level of £195,000. In Wales, the typical house price also hit a record high of £220,000 after increasing by 14.6%. A record high was also hit in England, at £316,000, after prices increased by 14.3%. The average price in Northern Ireland increased by 9.6%, reaching £169,000. The South West saw the strongest rise in growth, with prices up 17% in the year to August, while London had the lowest annual growth, at 8.3%. 

Daily Mail (19/10/2022)   Daily Mirror (19/10/2022)   The Independent (19/10/2022)   The Times (19/10/2022)  

Toronto and Frankfurt are heading for the steepest house price crashes as soaring interest rates threaten to burst the world's biggest housing bubbles, according to an investment bank. In total, nine major world cities are in high risk “bubble” territory, according to UBS's Global Real Estate Bubble Index: Zurich, Munich, Hong Kong, Vancouver and Amsterdam. London prices are not yet in bubble territory, but homes are “overvalued”. Overall, London ranked sixteenth in terms of risk, out of the 25 world cities analysed. London has some protections that other cities do not, however. House prices have climbed by 6% from mid-2021 – below the 10% average across the cities analysed. Rents also rebounded after the pandemic – reducing the risk of a buy-to-let investor sell-off. The bubble risk in London has therefore “slightly decreased” compared to last year, UBS said.  

The Daily Telegraph (17/10/2022)  

More than 5m households could see their annual mortgage payments rise by an average of £5,100 by the end of 2024, a think tank has warned. In total, mortgage payments are set to rise annually by £26bn over the next two years, according to the Resolution Foundation. Households in London will see the biggest increase, with average payments projected to rise by £8,000 over this period - more than twice the level of the £3,400 increase experienced by households in Wales. Lindsay Judge, research director at the Resolution Foundation, said: "With almost half of all mortgagor households on course to see their family budgets fall by at least 5% from higher payments, the living standards pain from rising interest rates will be widespread." While some homeowners on variable rate deals will see their costs increase immediately, the impact on the majority of mortgaged homeowners, who are on fixed-rate mortgages, will build over the coming years as they move off lower rates on to new deals, the think tank added. 

The Guardian (14/10/2022)   The Independent (14/10/2022)   The Sun (14/10/2022)   The Times (14/10/2022)  

Data from Moneyfacts shows that 10-year mortgage deals are now the cheapest on the market. The average rate on a 10-year fix is currently 5.78% and while this marks a jump from the 2.99% average recorded a year ago, the increase is significantly less than for shorter-term fixes. Over the same period, the average rate on two-year fixes has nearly tripled from 2.25% to 6.47%, while five-year rates have climbed from 2.55% to 6.29%. Nick Mendes of broker John Charcol said more buyers would have to turn to longer-term fixes as they could become the only way to buy or remortgage. 

The Sunday Telegraph (16/10/2022)  

House prices in Tower Hamlets fell 12% in the 12 months through June, according to an analysis of UK Land Registry data by Bloomberg. The median price paid for an existing home in the borough was £460,368 in June. 

Bloomberg (12/10/2022)  

According to data from LonRes, asking prices of London's most expensive homes have been slashed since the Chancellor's mini-budget last month sparked turmoil in the mortgage market. The number of properties for sale in the centre of London with price reductions jumped by 76% in the last week of September compared to the same period in 2021. Prime London sale prices in September were up just 0.7% year-on-year and 2.4% compared to pre-pandemic levels – a significant contrast to the rest of the country. 

The Daily Telegraph (10/10/2022)