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 for over two years, 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) the flow of mortgage lending by all UK-resident mortgage lenders fell in February – from £1.2 billion to £0.5 billion for net lending, and gross lending from £9.5 billion to £9.1 billion in the month.
Total mortgage approvals for house purchase have decreased again – down from £4.6 billion in January to £4.4 billion in February. Remortgaging has also seen a decrease, from £4.1 billion in January to £3.9 billion in February.
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 £162,215 as at the end of February, 2011.
Source: Land Registry
Percentage Changes of Property Prices in England and Wales
The Monthly change in February in England and Wales was -0.8%.
The Annual change to February in England and Wales was –1.7%.
Source: Land Registry
RICS survey overview.
The RICS Housing Market Survey for February says that the housing market is still slow. Both supply and demand for property are low but level. Every region of the UK except London has seen falling prices, with Wales and Yorkshire / Humberside seeing the largest falls.
Source: Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors
New Mortgages granted
The Council of Mortgage Lenders reports that February’s estimated figures for lending for house purchase and remortgages was £9.5 billion, largely unchanged from January’s figure, and only slightly higher than in February 2010.
Source: Council of Mortgage Lenders
Regional trends in Rightmove Estate Agents Asking House Prices in England and Wales.
The largest increase in March is in the South West, where the average asking price is up by 3.3% to £252,171. but this is only 1% higher than March 2010. The only decrease in asking prices by Rightmove registered estate agents in March is London, where the average asking price is down by 1.5% to £424,307, although this is still 1.6% higher than in March 2010.
Over the year to March 2011, the largest increase in house asking prices has been, for two months in a row, the South East, which has seen asking house prices rise by 3.3% to £298,922. The largest regional decreases are the North-west, and Yorkshire & Humberside. Both regions saw asking house prices fall by 3.4% over the year to March 2011.
Source: Rightmove
Halifax House Price Index figures.
The average price of a house by the end of February 2011 was £162,657. House prices in February were 0.9% lower than in January. The quarterly figure showed a 0.4% drop. The figures show that house prices are 2.8% lower than this time last year, measured by the average for the latest quarter against the same period a year earlier. This is the largest annual drop since October 2009.
Source: Halifax
Nationwide House Price Index figures
Seasonally adjusted figures published on 31st March showed that the average cost of a home in the UK was £164,751 during the month of March. This is a monthly rise of 0.5%, and the annual rate now stands at 0.1%.
Source: Nationwide
Rightmove House Price Index figures
Rightmove’s March survey shows the asking price of a typical UK property in the period from 13th February to 12th March 2011 was £231,790, an increase of only 0.8% from the previous month. House asking prices are only 0.9% higher than a year ago.
Source: Rightmove
Next Monthly Market Fact File due in early May.