There was more good news for the housing market this week with hugely positive figures released by Nationwide Building Society. The lender revealed that house prices hit a 16-year high in August, bouncing back from falls earlier this year. Prices rose by 2 per cent in August compared to the previous month, underlining the rapid …
The latest figures from Bridging Trends reveal a 45% fall in gross bridging loan volumes in the first half of the year, as activity is dented by the Covid-19 lockdown. In the six months to the end of June 2020, bridging loan volumes declined by £167.88 million- to £202.26 million, compared to £370.14 million of …
With many estate agents reporting a record number of enquiries in June and July, It is not surprising that house prices have bounced back significantly as lockdown continues to ease. Nationwide Building Society reported a 1.7 per cent increase in prices in July compared with a 1.5 per cent drop in June, while Halifax recorded …
Lenders take many factors into consideration when agreeing whether to lend on any given application. Many of these are nuanced and represent the proverbial ‘secret sauce’ of a lender’s underwriting criteria. Other considerations are more universal, although the importance of any one of these varies between lenders, depending on their approach to risk management, credit …
At MT Finance, we have been suggesting for some time now that the Chancellor should introduce some sort of stamp duty holiday to help kick-start the housing market as it emerges from its prolonged lock-down. Yesterday, he did just that, introducing a stamp duty holiday from midnight on 8 July. Until 31 March 2021, there …
With the property market coming to a virtual standstill during lockdown, it’s not surprising to see the negative impact this had on values. Nationwide reports that average property prices were 0.1 per cent lower in June than the same month a year ago – the first annual fall since December 2012. Nationwide also reveals that …
The results from MT Finance’s latest Broker Sentiment Survey has revealed 40% of brokers predict that the property market will take 6-9 months to fully recover from lockdown. A further 27% of brokers are less optimistic, believing it will take 12 months or more to recover. Meanwhile, 15% see stronger market fundamentals and a recovery …
With lockdown rules easing, the property market has a welcome feel of ‘getting back to business’. MT Finance may still be working from home, with a view to returning to the office early next month, but surveyors are getting back out there and clearing the backlog of valuations that built up during the period when …
The housing market has effectively re-opened for business after the Government lifted lockdown restrictions which have been in place for the past eight weeks. Buyers can now view properties, surveyors can conduct valuations, and removals firms can operate, as long as social distancing rules are observed. This is a real positive step towards a return …
With lockdown in full force for the past six weeks, it is not surprising to see the trend in house prices and transactions on a downwards path. Indeed, the latest Halifax house price index reports a 0.6 per cent fall in values in April, compared to March, the biggest monthly fall in two years. However, …
