House prices remained stable in June

The latest Nationwide House Price Index shows that house prices were unchanged in June and the price of a typical home in June is just 1.1% lower than one year ago. Demand remains subdued, but so does supply. The average house price is now £168,205.

Commenting on the figures, Robert Gardner, Nationwide's Chief Economist, said: "Stability remained the theme in June, with house prices flat over the month. This left house prices 1.1% below the level prevailing in June 2010. At 0.3%, the three month on three month measure of house prices was slightly weaker than the 0.6% pace of increase recorded in May.

"The property market has moved sideways over the past six months, and June's data suggest that trend is being maintained through the summer months. Housing market demand has remained subdued of late, as evidenced by the still weak level of mortgage applications in recent months and the sluggish pace of new buyer enquiries reported by surveyors.

"There have been a few encouraging developments for households, but to date this hasn't been enough to reinvigorate the housing market. Employment has been edging up and consumer confidence surged in May - although the latter may have had more to do with unusually warm weather and extra bank holidays, rather than signalling the arrival of any recovery-related feel good factor.

"Ultimately, these positives have not been enough to make up for the ongoing squeeze on households. With debt levels still high, the need to repair household finances is undiminished. However, sluggish economic growth, and wages rising at less than half the rate of inflation, means that consumers are struggling to make progress in repairing their finances.

"Developments on the supply side of the housing market are also failing to drive the market one way or the other. The low rate of building in recent years has limited the flow of new properties available for sale, while low interest rates are helping to support mortgage affordability and reduce the number of distressed sales. This has meant that the market has not become over supplied, despite the weak state of buyer demand.

"It's hard to make the case for prices rising or falling sharply over the remainder of 2011 if the economy develops as we expect. Economic growth looks set to gather pace in the months ahead, but is likely to remain unspectacular. This in turn points to only modest gains in employment and sluggish wage increases, which will continue to keep many potential buyers on the sidelines.

"At the same time, the chances of a near term increase in interest rates appear to have diminished. Ultra-low interest rates should continue to support affordability for some time yet and keep a lid on forced sales. Overall, a combination of low transaction volumes, still tight housing supply and flattish house prices looks set to stay for the remainder of the year."

Mark Green from imove Cornwall, the UK’s first not-for-profit online estate agents based in Cornwall says “Those Vendor’s who do need to sell their property need to take caution in pricing their property.  It’s crucial to get your marketing price just right for the current market”

Imove provides a professional platform for sellers to sell their property and pay a one-off low fee of just £399 (with no VAT to pay).  www.imovecornwall.org

The cost of owning a home by the sea has more that doubled over the past decade

A Halifax report found that property prices in seven out of 10 seaside towns in England and Wales have seen greater increases than the national average since 2001.

Wadebridge in Cornwall, a few miles inland from the coast, saw the biggest rise in average house prices.
Prices in the town have risen from £100,406 to £370,902.

It is followed by Maryport in the Lake District, and Tenby in west Wales.

The Halifax found that six of the 10 seaside towns that have seen the biggest rise in prices since 2001 are in the north of England or Wales, with three in the south west of England, and one in East Anglia.

However, the 10 most expensive seaside towns remain in the south west of England, with property in Sandbanks in Dorset being the most expensive, followed by Padstow in Cornwall.

The average price of a house in Sandbanks is now £532,652, while in Padstow it is £381,916.

Outside of England, the Mumbles in Swansea has the highest average house prices, at £263,494.

Nitesh Patel, housing economist at Halifax, said: "Seaside towns have always been popular places to live, but they have perhaps become even more so in recent years.

"This is certainly true if we take house prices as an indicator of desirability."

Yet not all seaside towns have high house prices.
At Withernsea in the East Riding of Yorkshire, the average cost of a home is £99,153.
Rhyl on the north Wales coast has the lowest seaside house prices in Wales, with an average of £121,838

Wadebridge

http://www.imovecornwall.org/

Mortgage Lenders Continue To Let Down House Hunters

Buyers are still failing to overcome the significant barriers to home ownership that the current housing market represents, according to the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA).

The latest monthly market report from the NAEA showed only minor decreases across supply and demand during the month of May, when 275 people registered with an average estate agents office, compared to 277 in April.

The average number of sales agreed per estate agency office stayed at eight for the fourth month in a row. But the percentage of sales to first time buyers increased from 21% in April to 24% in May. The average number of properties for sale per office decreased slightly from 69 to 68.

According to the NAEA, the combination of large deposit demands, pressure on household finances and the gloomy economic picture for the UK is causing stagnation in the housing market.

President of the NAEA, Wendy Evans-Scott said: "Demand for property remains consistent but the barriers to buying are proving impossible to overcome for the vast majority of consumers.

Mark Green, Chairman of the UK’s first not-for-profit online estate agents, imove Cornwall says "The banks must find a balance between the easy ‘give-money-to-anyone’ lending of the past ten years and the strictness of the current mortgage lending rules; the governments attempt to force banks to lend has clearly failed and many buyers are still facing strict criteria which prevents them from obtaining a mortgage”

So is there a solution?  “Well assuming the coalition will steer clear of introducing legislation to ‘force’ the mortgage lenders to actually lend there is no real solution, says Green.  “I think we will have to sit it out and wait for them to begin lending in their own time”

http://www.imovecornwall.org/

House Prices in South West Continue to Rise Despite Depressed Market

House prices in the South West rose by 0.6% in May 2011, compared to April 2011.  According to property portal website Rightmove, the average asking price in May was £262,243 compared to April’s £260,593.  This is despite the gloomy picture many experts are painting of the market.

Seller’s are now waiting for around 90 days to obtain a sale says the Rightmove report.

“Seller’s need to be aware of just how difficult the housing market is” says Mark Green from imove Cornwall.  “The South West has been hit hard with the average earnings to property price gap increasing, making it unaffordable for many local people to buy a property”.

imove Cornwall is calling on the Government to step-in and help local people.

“We believe that in some Cornish towns, property prices are still relatively too high.  Something needs to be done to ensure that local people can afford to purchase homes in their local area”

Graph from Rightmove, showing the average time a property is on the market

Rental costs will keep rising, says Rics

Rents are continuing to rise for tenants and more increases are expected in the coming months, a survey by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)  has suggested.

About 42% more surveyors reported a rise in rents than those who saw a fall during the three months to the end of April, the RICS survey said.

Some 33% more surveyors expect rents to go up than those predicting a fall.

RICS spokesman James Scott-Lee says "Although we are beginning to see more mortgages aimed at first-time buyers, many potential homeowners are still restricted from getting a foot on the property ladder, leading to increased demand in an already oversubscribed rental market".

"There has been a small uplift in supply, but the imbalance between demand and availability can only mean rents will continue to rise."

First-time buyers

A separate survey, published last month, said that rental costs in England and Wales had reached a record high in April 2011.  LSL Property Services said the average rent stood at £692 a month.

“There is a distinct lack of first time buyers looking for property” says Mark Green, Chairman of imove Cornwall, the UK’s first not for profit online estate agents based in Wadebridge and Truro.

“Since the launch of our new service two weeks ago we have had many buyers register on our database, but not one first time buyer” says Green.  “And that’s despite the fact that we are selling, what I think is a very, very cheap first time buyer property in St Dennis, near St Austell, for just £45,000”.

Seller's - Get Realistic With Your Price

Mark Green, from imove Cornwall has called for seller's to get realistic with their properties marketing price.

"It's blatantly obvious to most people that property prices have declined in recent years, however many seller's still aren't adjusting their properties marketing price accordingly, with many seller's still adamant they can achieve values seen in late 2008"

According to September 2010 report from the The Nationwide prices were up around 5% compared to the same period in 2009, however since then prices have been in decline. 

Interactive Property Price Graph
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/interactive/2008/apr/15/houseprices

"But the bigger problem is the lack of buyers, the over-supply of properties and lack of mortgage finance available" says Mark Green.  "The problem Vendors face is if they haven't obtained a sale within the first three months of marketing, their agent looses interest and you get pushed to the back of the pile.  It's not the way it should work, but being honest, it is a fact.  Of course it doesn't mean you won't sell after that period, but many sellers heavily rely on their estate agent to sell their property and if the agent looses interest - you could be in trouble"

Don't Just Rely On What An Estate Agent Says
There are many agents who will over-value your property simply to gain a signed contract with you for say six months.  The agent knows your property won't sell at their valuation, but now they have you in a contract they can begin working on you to reduce the price to what it should be.  It's a very well known tactic that many agents use.

"Seller's should not choose an agent simply on the basis of their valuation.  You should do your own research to be sure what your property is worth.  And with so much freely available information on the Internet, researching your own value is actually pretty easy"

Head over to www.zoopla.co,uk or www.rightmove.co.uk and click on 'House Prices'.  Both sites offer you statistical information on house prices.  From here seller's should be able to work out their properties value.

www.imovecornwall.org