Property Market Fact File – Sept 2010

28th September 2010 – October’s Fact File due at the end of October.

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 level now since 05th March, 2009.

Source: Bank of England

Mortgage Lending by the Major UK Lenders

According to data from the major UK lenders, (which comprises Banco Santander, Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide and Royal Bank of Scotland) net mortgage lending by all UK-resident mortgage lenders slowed in July, and in August, gross lending for house purchase was little changed.

Total mortgage approvals for house purchase were unchanged in July. The data further indicated that mortgage approvals for house purchase decreased slightly in August and are now the lowest since April 2009. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ new buyer enquiries statistics indicates a weakening in demand for house purchase.

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 £167,423 as at the end of August, 2010.

Source: Land Registry

Percentage Changes of Property Prices in England and Wales

The Monthly change in August in England and Wales was 0.3%.

The Annual change to August in England and Wales was 6.7%.

Source: Land Registry

RICS survey overview.

The RICS Housing Market Survey for August shows that an increased number of sellers are putting their properties on the market for the second consecutive month, but as there are fewer buyers actively searching for a new property, prices are slipping down. Regionally, only Scotland has seen house prices increase over the past quarter.

Source: Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors

New Mortgages granted

New data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders shows gross mortgage lending declined to an estimated £11.4 billion in August, down 14% from £13.3 billion in July. Compared to last year, it’s down 6% from £12.1 billion in August 2009.

This is the lowest August total since 2000, when it was £11.1 billion.

Source: Council of Mortgage Lenders

Regional trends in House prices.

Largest increase in September is in East Anglia, where the average price is up by 1.3% to £219,674. which is 0.6% higher than September 2009.

Largest decrease in September is in East Midlands, where the average price is down by 4.4% in September to £161,603, but is still 2.1% higher than in September 2009.

Source: Rightmove

Halifax House Price Index figures.

The average price of a house is now £167,953. House prices in August were 0.2% higher than in July. House prices are 4.6% higher than this time last year, measured by the average for the latest quarter against the same period a year earlier.

Source: Halifax/Lloyds TSB

Nationwide House Price Index figures

The price of a typical UK property is £169,507, a fall of (seasonally adjusted) 0.9% month-on-month (m/m) in August, making house prices 3.9% higher than a year ago.

Source: Nationwide

Rightmove House Price Index figures

Rightmove’s survey shows the price of a typical UK property in September is £229,767, a fall of 1.1% this month. House prices are 2.6% higher than a year ago.

Source: Rightmove.co.uk

Market overview

The wider economy is fairly stable with a number of factors indicating continued progress but it isn’t going to be fast growth.  Previous optimism earlier in the year has been somewhat reined back but a net positive attitude still prevails in many areas.

Proposed cutbacks will however affect some towns and local economies considerably more and quicker than others.

Editor  September 2010

Credit Agency on the UK Economy.

Moodys, the credit agency has stated that the AAA rating of the Government is secure following the hard decisions that have been made to reduce expenditure in the Public Sector and control and hopefully reduce the budget deficit.

20 September 2010

CBI

The CBI have stated that the UK economy will continue to move forward but it will be at a rate slower than anticipated a couple of months ago.

22 September 2010

Unemployment

The number of people unemployed in the UK showed little change.  Officially, the statistics fell by 8,000 to 2.47 million in the three months to July, figures show.  The claimant count was however up by 2,300.  No substantial change therefore.

15 September 2010

October’s Property Market Fact File due at the end of October.