Mortgage Lender News Information and Updates
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- Wed, 26 Jul 2006 12:07:20 +0100
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- Housing market remains stable: NAEA
The number of buyers on estate agents’ books fell slightly in June, but the housing market remains stable, new survey results from the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) revealed.
The number of first-time buyers recorded by agents fell but their share of the market was up from the same period last year.
The survey said first-time buyer share of the market took 12.5% of the sector in May, and an 11.9% share of the market in June. This compares to just 7.8% in June 2005 and 28% five years ago in June 2001. The survey suggested a lack of increase of interest rates had been successful in bringing the foundation level of the housing market back.
The gap between asking price and selling price closed further in June, and is now at just 3.1%. This was down from 4.5% recorded in June 2005. It is a positive sign for the wider housing market, indicating vendors and agents were being realistic with pricing.
Charles Smailes, president of the NAEA, commented: “I am delighted to see such a positive overall national picture for the June housing market. The increase in housing stock seen in May has held steady in June, and I hope to see this increase further in the coming months offering greater choice.
“Despite first time buyer percentages decreasing slightly this month, I am pleased that this is still higher than the levels seen during the same period in 2005.
“However the increase in failed transactions is an unwelcome statistic, our HIPs research revealed, as we had suspected, only a minimal amount (18.3%) of transactions fail due to unfavorable survey revelations. “
Wed, 26 Jul 2006 12:04:57 +0100 - Call for lenders to prepare for HIPs
LENDERS are being called on to get their systems in place before June 2007 to ensure Home Information Packs speed up the mortgage application process. Yvette Cooper, minister for housing and planning, says that the introduction of HIPs could result in lenders making swifter offers as borrowers will not have to wait for surveys. In the House of Commons last week, Cooper was asked by Andrew Robathan, Tory MP for Blaby, what assessment she had made about the value of the packs for first-time buyers. Cooper says that as well as first-time buyers receiving the packs for free, as a result of the cost being transferred from buyers to sellers, they will also lead to a speedier mortgage offer. She says:"We expect most people to see cuts in the cost of valuations as a result of Home Condition Reports, as well as swifter mortgage offers." But Dominic Toller, director of marketing and new business at LMS, says that although HCRs will speed up applications, the government must take care not to mislead consumers, as these changes will not happen straight away. He says: "HIPs will be of benefit and speed up mortgage offers. But this will not happen straight away and lenders need to have fast-track valuation systems in place. Only a few lenders have AVM in place.
Thu, 13 Jul 2006 19:34:11 +0100
