FIRST-TIME BUYER NUMBERS HIT A 12-YEAR HIGHNumbers of people buying their first home reached a monthly high in August, achieving a level not seen since 2007, before the financial crisis. The average first-time purchaser borrowed £175,361 or around 80% of the property value. The amount borrowed equates to a multiple of 3.52 of first-time buyers’ income, but with continuing low interest rates, this only represents 17.1% of total household income. These strong figures for first-time buyers are backed by research from Zoopla which shows that over a third (36%) of all proper ty purchases in 2018 were by first-time buyers. Reasons given include Stamp Duty relief, the Help to Buy scheme and Help to Buy ISA. MORTGAGE BROKER OUTLOOK IS CONFIDENTAccording to the latest Mortgage Market Tracker survey from the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA), 91% of brokers said they were either ‘very confident’ or ‘fairly confident’ about the outlook for the mortgage industry. Executive Director of the IMLA, Kate Davis, said: “Continuing political uncertainty has failed to dent the confidence of mortgage brokers. Intermediaries remain confident that they are well-placed to weather the storm of political uncertainty. Brokers are upbeat about the prospects for Britain’s mortgage market.” POSTCODE LOTTERY IN ESTATE AGENTS’ FEESNew research from Get Agent, the online estate agent comparison site, has found that selling your home through a high street estate agent can vary by as much as 261%, depending on your postcode. The research analysed data from over 40,000 branches, listing properties in more than 2,400 postcode areas and found that the average fee (including VAT) in England and Wales was 1.53% and was as high as 3.07% in the most expensive areas. Postcode CT11 in Ramsgate, Kent was the most expensive, equating to a fee of £7,425, based on the average listing price of £241,849 in that area. At the other end of the scale, sellers in Benthall, Northumberland, which is postcode NE67, are typically charged 0.85%, which equates to £2,771 for an average property worth £326,000 listed in that area. Since October 2016, all estate agents’ quotes should include VAT. Before this date, fees were quoted ‘plus VAT’.
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HOUSE PRICES HEADLINE STATISTICS |
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HOUSE PRICES PRICE CHANGE BY REGION |
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AVERAGE MONTHLY PRICE BY PROPERTY TYPE – SEPT 2019 |
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PROPERTY TYPEANNUAL INCREASEDETACHED £354,4530.80%SEMI-DETACHED £222,2281.50%TERRACED £189,4271.30%FLAT / MAISONETTE £209,1481.50%
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MORTGAGE ACTIVITY |
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It is important to take professional advice before making any decision relating to your personal finances. Information within this document is based on our current understanding and can be subject to change without notice and the accuracy and completeness of the information cannot be guaranteed. It does not provide individual tailored investment advice and is for guidance only. Some rules may vary in different parts of the UK. |