Property Market Fact File – July 2011

Bank Lending Rate

It has been confirmed that the Bank of England Monetary Committee have decided that the Bank Base Rate is to remain at 0.5% for a further month.  It has been at this very low level for a record period, i.e. since 05th March, 2009.

Source: Bank of England

Mortgage Lending by the Major UK Lenders

According to initial data from the major UK lenders, (which comprises Banco Santander, Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide and Royal Bank of Scotland), total mortgage approvals for house purchase dropped slightly from £5.1 billion in April to £4.9 billion in May. Remortgaging saw an increase, from £3.2 billion in April to £3.7 billion in May.

Source: Bank of England

Land Registry Average Property Prices in England and Wales

The Average Price of a property in England and Wales is now £161,823 as at the end of May 2011.

Source: Land Registry

Percentage Changes of Property Prices in England and Wales

The Monthly change in May in England and Wales was –1.4%.

The Annual change to May in England and Wales was –2.2%.

Source: Land Registry

RICS survey overview.

The RICS Housing Market Survey for May suggests that the housing market is still weak. Both supply and demand for property have stayed low.  Every region of the UK except London has seen falling prices, with the West Midlands seeing the largest falls.  East Anglia had the largest increase in new buyer enquiries, and the highest level of new vendor instructions during the month.

Source: Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors

New Mortgages granted – May estimates

The Council of Mortgage Lenders reports that May’s estimated figures for gross mortgage lending in the UK is £11.3 billion. This is a rise of 12% from April’s figure of £11.1 billion, and a rise of 1% since last May.

The CML’s director general, Michael Coogan said “the likelihood seems to be for essentially flat levels of lending over the next couple of months”.

Source: Council of Mortgage Lenders

Regional trends in Rightmove Estate Agents Asking House Prices in England and Wales.

The largest increase in June is in East Anglia, where the average asking price is up by 2.2% to £231,725. This is now 4.4% higher than June 2010.

The largest decrease in asking prices by Rightmove registered estate agents in June is the East Midlands region, where the average asking price is down by 3.2% to £164,883, and is now 0.4% lower than in June 2010.

Over the year to June 2011, the largest increase in house asking prices was in East Anglia (see above).

The largest annual regional decrease is Yorkshire & Humberside region for the second month in a row, which has seen asking house prices fall by 3.5% since June 2011.

Source: Rightmove

Halifax House Price Index figures.

The average price of a house by the end of May 2011 was £160,519, according to the Halifax House Price Index. House prices in May were 0.1% higher than in April. The quarterly figure showed a 1.2% drop. The figures show that house prices are 4.2% lower than at this time last year, measured by the average for the latest quarter against the same period a year earlier.

Source: Halifax

Nationwide House Price Index figures

Nationwide House Price Index figures published on 30th June showed that the average cost of a home in the UK was £168,205 during the month of June.  After seasonal adjustment, there is no change from May, and the annual rate now stands at –1.1%, very slightly better than May. The quarterly figure, said to be a better indicator of trend, stands at 0.3% increase against the previous 3 months’.

Source: Nationwide

Rightmove House Price Index figures

Rightmove’s June survey shows the asking price of a typical UK property in the period from 8th May to 11h June 2011 was £240,394, an increase of 0.6 % from the previous month. House asking prices are 1.1% higher than a year ago. New sellers’ asking prices have increased every month for the last six months.

Source: Rightmove

Outstanding Mortgage Debt

Total secured lending in the UK on dwellings stands at £1,242bn at the end of May 2011.

Source: Credit Action

Hometrack Monthly House Price Survey

Hometrack compile sample data monthly from thousands of Estate Agents in all 2,300 postcode districts in England and Wales. The figures are weighted according to postcode, but not seasonally adjusted.

June’s figures are based on 5,000 responses, and show that currently the average amount of time that a house is on the market is 9.7 weeks, and 92.8% of the asking price is achieved.

8.7% of postcode districts reported a price increase in June, and 28% of postcode districts had a price decrease over the month.

Source: Hometrack

1st July 2011