Remortgaging valuations surge and drive rest of mortgage market as homeowners try to lock in low interest rate deals December 7, 2016 Homeowners scrambling to lock into mortgage deals before a rise in interest rates drove remortgaging valuations to surge almost 25 per cent year-on-year in November. Remortgaging outperformed all other mortgage market valuation activity last month, according to research from Connells Survey & Valuation, rising 4.9 per cent compared to October. Read more: Time to remortgage? [...]
Mid-market M&A pricing in Europe increases as private equity funds pay record high levels May 30, 2017 The price which buyers will pay for mid-market companies in Europe has increased by 1.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2017, according to the Argos Mid-Market Index from Epsilon Research and French investment firm Argos Soditic. Buyers paid an average of 8.6 times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda), while the [...]
The government’s Help to Buy scheme almost doubles number of high loan-to-value mortgages with five per cent deposits for first-time buyers November 10, 2015 The government's Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme has almost doubled the number of high loan-to-value mortgages, for buyers who only have a five per cent deposit. The number of 95 per cent loan-to-value mortgages (LTV) issued, for buyers who need to borrow 95 per cent of property's value for a mortgage, increased by nearly [...]
House prices rebounded in September after the Brexit vote lull September 19, 2016 UK house prices are rebounding from the lull that immediately followed the Brexit vote, according to data from Rightmove. Asking prices have increased 0.7 per cent month-on-month, Rightmove said. In the weeks after the Brexit vote, Rightmove found that prices fell by 0.9 per cent. But first-time buyers are finding it increasingly difficult to get on [...]
Property of the Week: This four-storey penthouse next door to Tower Bridge is on sale for the first time in 35 years July 27, 2017 There are penthouses with views and then there’s the High Command. This highly unusual Grade II Listed property in Shad Thames is so close to Tower Bridge that it’s practically within touching distance when you’re having a cup of tea on one of its many terraces. High Command, Shad Thames, £9.5m This is the first [...]
UK house prices: More than three quarters of homes are selling below asking price June 27, 2017 More than three quarters of homes sold for less than asking price in May, new figures have shown – as the number of homes for sale rises. Some three per cent of properties sold for more than asking price in May, a report by the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) showed, down from seven [...]
“Really, is that it?” – reactions to the government’s housing white paper February 7, 2017 In the year that the US President signed an executive order to build a wall, UK politicians got together to write a housing paper that was lacking in concrete ideas. There were some general indicators of where the government is going on housing, however. Here's how the property industry reacted: On the lack of content [...]
Revealed: The “deeply worrying” decline of buy-to-let sales after the government’s “war on landlords” December 9, 2016 Sales of buy-to-let homes have plummeted more than half in the last 12 months, after the government launched a "war on landlords". Figures by estate agent Haart showed the number of properties sold as rental homes in England and Wales fell 63.7 per cent in the year to November, while the number of landlords registering [...]
easyProperty lands biggest ever property deal for an online estate agent September 23, 2016 EasyProperty has landed the biggest ever property deal conducted by an online agent, acting for a private family trust. The property portal sold a £35m property portfolio that comprised 208 properties across east London and Essex; 114 of the assets were residential, 94 were commercial. Contracts between the parties were exchanged seven days after the off-market [...]
The Help to Buy Isa for first-time buyers launches today: Here’s everything you need to know, including which banks and building societies will provide it and how much you can borrow December 1, 2015 It was now many moons ago that George Osborne introduced the Help to Buy Isa (Help to Buy-sa to its friends), which will give savers £50 for every £200 they save, up to £12,000. Nine months after it was first announced, the scheme is finally ready to be unveiled, with the launch slated for today. In other words: first-time [...]