Thursday, July 13, 2006

UK Mortgage Market Overviews

February 2006: The year has got off to a flying start this looks set to continue as increasing numbers of buyers return to the market. more
January 2006: House prices finished 2005 up by just 3%, above the rate of inflation and the first time for five years that the annual growth rate fell into single figures. more
December 2005: Fears of a house price crash have receded further after three key reports produced strong evidence that the housing market has stabilised. more
November 2005: Good news for the housing market at long last as several reports and key indicators pointed to a rebound in house prices and buyer activity. more
October 2005: There are many mixed messages currently emanating from the housing market, a phenomenon often seen when any part of the economy hits a turning point. more
September 2005: The picture for the housing market remains a little mixed this month, despite the MPC keeping rate on hold at 4.50% at its September meeting. more
August 2005: This month the Bank of England cut the base rate by 0.25% from 4.75% to 4.5%. Some economists forecasting a base rate of 4% by next Spring. more
July 2005: Buy-to-let investors are continuing to expand their portfolios and are taking a long-term view of their investments, according to the latest survey by the ARLA. more
June 2005: House prices are stabilising and remain broadly unchanged in the first five months of 2005 is the conclusion reached by experts after house price reports. more
March 2005: These are uncertain times for the housing market. It is certainly true that both borrowers and homeowners need to reassess their expectations. more
February 2005: The housing market has got off to an inauspicious start in 2005, with house prices flat or falling, depending on who’s data you believe. more

Friday, July 07, 2006

Best buy-to-let mortgages

UK Buy-to-Let Discounted Remortgage 5.44%
UK Buy-to-Let Fixed Mortgage 4.75%
UK Buy-to-Let Fixed Mortgage 4.90%
UK Buy-to-Let Fixed Mortgage 4.99%
UK Buy-to-Let Tracker Mortgage 4.73%
UK Buy-to-Let Tracker Mortgage 5.20%UK Buy-to-Let Tracker Mortgage 5.29%

Buy-to-let mortgage deals

Top buy-to-let mortgage deals launched

Chase De Vere Mortgage Management now has access to the most generous buy-to-let deals on the market. They now offer loans for up to 90% of the property value, compared to the traditional maximum of 85%.

This means that more investors can afford more properties to capitalise on the continued strong demand for rented accommodation.

Rates vary from 5.09% for a three-year fixed rate to 5.29% for five years, with various different options available, such as deals with no arrangement fees or cashback offers attached.

UK Mortgage Market News: July, 2006

House prices continued to creep up over June, despite concerns about rising interest rates adding to the costs of mortgages. Buyers seem unpeturbed, and Nationwide Building Society said prices rose by 0.30% in June. Hometrack, the property research company that receives data from more than 3,500 estate agents, reported a more impressive 0.60% rise.
While affordability remains a major issue for first-time buyers, those who are trading up are more fortunate. They have large amounts of equity providing them with big deposits for their next homes, and these buyers are helping push prices upwards.

A bigger factor, however, is the shortage of properties on the market relative to demand. This is leading to stiff competition among buyers which is squeezing prices up. Indeed, according to Hometrack, the time taken to sell properties has plummeted from 7.4 weeks a year ago to 6.5 weeks today, and the average number of viewings before a sale is agreed has also fallen from 13.2 to 10.9 over the same period. All consistent with an increasingly competitive market.
Hometrack said that a continued shortage of properties on the market had squeezed up prices in 42% of areas in the UK, with 56% areas unchanged and just 2% of areas witnessing price falls. However, London was by far the biggest riser, up 1.1% in June alone, and by 5.8% since the beginning of the year, far outstripping any other region.

Property sales are also well up on this time last year, according to Your Move, the estate agent.Regionally, house sales rose fastest in southern England, with East Anglia up 29.6%, the south-west up 23.4%, the south-east up 21.9% and outer London up 21.4%.
Performance in the north has been more subdued – with sales falling 14.8% in Scotland and 2.9% in the north of England.

But a recent surge in viewings in both regions suggest transactions will increase soon.
The prospects for continued price growth depend to a large extent on what happens to interest rates. The arguments for a move up or down are quite finely balanced, and the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee is adopting a “wait and see” approach, hoping to glean more data on risks to inflation before making any decision.

The base rate is likely to remain at 4.5% for at least the next few months, but fixed-rate mortgages are already rising. Two-year fixes now start at 4.59% and five year deals from 4.99%. Discounted variable rates are cheaper, starting from 4.19% for two years, and may well be worth considering since they are so much cheaper than equivalent fixed-rate deals. Somebody could take the 4.19% discounted rate, see the base rate increase at least once, and still have lower mortgage repayments than somebody taking a two-year fixed rate
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